4) The Fabled Tales
by IlaGolden
Summary: This is the fourth book in the Tales Saga. The Tales Saga is an alternate version of Yu-Gi-Oh which rewrites the story from the end of Battle City onwards. There's something ominous about the rain, it's magnifying everything and it just won't stop falling; its almost as though its waiting for something to happen...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The frost which covered the ground was enough to make him shiver just by looking at it, yet the way she was sat so serenely under the oak tree almost made it feel like summer. For a few long moments he just stood there watching her meditate, then the frost bitten redness of her cheeks brought out the natural concern he'd had for her from the moment they'd first met. She'd arrived at the Temple three months ago, but it had only taken a single moment for him to fall in love with her.

'It's too cold to be out in this weather,' he knelt down in front of her, 'you should go inside.'

'I'm fine right here, thank you,' her voice was as soft and strangely independent as always.

'You might be fine, but...'

'That's none of your concern Covo,' she opened her eyes as she cut him off.

'But I want it to be,' he swept some of the hair back from her face, 'just like I want you to call me Macar, it is my first name after all.'

'I prefer to call you Covo,' she pulled back from him, 'it keeps you at a distance that way.'

'And you want to keep everyone at a distance, don't you? It's why you get everyone here to call you Crovell.' A strange smile twitched at Covo's lips. 'Is there anyone who knows your first name?'

'I left my first name at the gates of this Temple,' she got to her feet, 'just like I left everything else behind.'

'Not everything,' he rose to his feet and tentatively placed a hand on her protruding stomach.

'I left behind all I could so this child will not know the shame of my past.'

'There you go talking about shame again,' Covo shook his head. 'So some creep took advantage of you...'

'I never said that's what happened,' Crovell glared at him.

'You didn't need to, what else would you be running from?' Covo felt himself becoming angry at the very notion someone could have hurt her.

'You have no idea,' she took several steps away from him.

'But I want to,' he took hold of her arm. 'I want to be a part of your life; part of the new life you're making here. I don't care what happened to you before you arrived, heck I don't even care who fathered your child, all I want is to take care of you and it. I love you.'

'You don't even know me.'

'I don't need to know you to know that I love you.'

For a few moments she just stared at him. A strangely sad look filled her face and, giving a heavy sigh, she turned her head away.

'Have you heard about our visitors?' Covo sensed it would be best to change the subject now.

'What visitors?' Crovell glanced back towards him.

'The Lutoni and that bit Standing of his; to celebrate her officially moving to Sil they're visiting the two Temples the Lutonis patron, Mov and Sta. They're planning on coming here first for a day or two, then they'll be going to the Temple of Sta sometime next week and... are you okay?' Covo brought what he was saying to a stop as he noticed how pale Crovell had become.

'I... I'm fine, I'm just not feeling too well,' she stumbled backwards.

'That's because a woman in your condition shouldn't be out in the December cold,' he shook his head.

'Yes... yes I think you're right,' she stumbled away from him. 'Tell the cook I'm unwell and will be eating in my room for the next few days.'

'Next few days?' Covo frowned as he fell into step beside her.

'Yes... yes I don't want to take any chances,' she picked up her pace as the first heavy drops of rain started to fall. 'I... I can't take any chances. I... I have to... to stay inside.'

* * *

'Here, you'll need this,' the other boy tossed him the keys to his motor bike. 'Remember what we talked about, no one can know I've been here so...'

'Don't make my way home too soon,' he smirked, 'don't worry; I'm in no rush to go back to that place.'

'But... you are coming back, right?'

'Careful, you're almost sounding worried about me,' for a moment their gazes locked, 'and we both know _you_ don't care.'

'Who says I don't? I've spent a lot of money on you recently; I just want to make sure it wasn't wasted.'

'So, what, I'm nothing more than an investment to you?'

'Careful, you almost sounded hurt.' The other boy half reached a hand towards him, then hesitated. 'When are you meeting with the kid again?'

'Tomorrow, is everything in place?'

'Of course, what do you take me for?'

'I'm really not sure anymore.'

Their gazes met again and this time he found himself hesitating over whether or not to place his hands on the other boy's shoulders. Instead he pulled out the dark blue stress ball the other boy had given him and began tossing it between his hands.

'We are doing the right thing trusting this kid, right?' He stopped tossing the ball for a moment.

'Are you saying you liked _their_ plan better?' The other boy folded his arms.

'No, I liked _our_ plan, the one _we_ came up with before everyone else decided to interfere, why can't we stick to that one?'

'Because it wouldn't change things enough to get what we really want out of this situation,' the other boy shook his head.

'How do we know? Maybe it'll change things just the right amount.'

'Do you really believe that or are you just getting cold feet?'

'I don't know... maybe it's just the thought of having to face them again after everything... I mean, maybe I would have been better off...'

'You're never going to be able to go through with any of the plans if you don't get over this little pity party of yours right now,' the other boy slammed his hand against the wall and half leant over him. 'I've not wasted the last three months on you for you to...' he stopped midsentence as their faces moved within touching distance of each other. 'We... we can't do this...'

'I know,' he pulled himself away and began throwing the ball again, 'if we do things just get complicated and we'll fail, right? Isn't that what the kid said?'

'Something like that,' he shrugged. 'I should go,' he made his way towards the door, stumbling over his own feet a little as he did. 'Give it a few hours before following me; no one can know I was here.'

'I know, just make sure the reservations made for me is at the right hotel.'

'What, do you think I'm an idiot or something?'

'It's not you I'm worried about,' he caught the ball and squeezed it tight, 'it's her.'

* * *

The first specks of rain which had stared just as Téa was leaving had turned into a full blown storm. Yugi took a deep breath in and tried to centre himself; ever since he'd become host to the Face of Friendship he'd grown to hate the rain. For reasons beyond his understanding rain acted like some kind of emotional magnifying glass; as if it wasn't hard enough for him to shut out the emotions of those around him on a good day, the rain somehow made it possible for him to sense what everyone in the entire city was feeling. Or at least that's how it felt.

Catilin had been the one to suggest meditation; Yugi had found it a useful way of finding his own balance again after he'd spent the day with his friends, but in weather like this no amount of centre or focus would block out the pain of an entire city. Yugi gripped his chest against the burning like sensation he was getting; a part of him couldn't help but wonder if this pain was on the same level as a heart attack, because if it wasn't then it should be.

'Yugi do you want me to take over for a while?' The ghostly image of the Pharaoh appeared beside him.

'I can't keep retreating to the Puzzle every time it gets a little uncomfortable for me,' Yugi winced, 'if I keep doing that then I'll never get used to being an empath. And I need to get used to being an empath or else I'm going to be in real trouble when you're gone.'

'Unless we find the Millennium Eye tomorrow Yugi, I'm not going anywhere any time soon,' the Pharaoh lowered his gaze.

'I'm sorry,' he pulled at the neck of his top, 'I don't mean to be so agitated. I also don't mean to keep putting off the hunt for the Millennium Eye, it's just... I find it hard enough to be around my own friends right now, never mind strangers.'

There were a few long minutes of silence, during which Yugi flopped back onto his bed. The emotional chaos he was sensing from the world outside made it impossible for him to hone in on the Pharaoh's, which made Yugi feel even worse about the situation. The Pharaoh's emotions used to just be something he knew without empathic powers. Now he could only tell what they were on dry days when it was just the two of them.

'Maybe you should try talking to the Face of Friendship again,' the Pharaoh glanced in his direction, 'maybe she can teach you some technique which will help...'

'Because she learnt to control her own powers so well,' Yugi felt inexplicably annoyed.

'I was just trying to help Yugi, there's no need to bite my head off.'

'I'm sorry,' he massaged his temples, 'I'm just... so tired and my chest hurts and I want to sleep, but... why can't the rest of the world stop feeling, just for a little while, is that really too much to ask?'

'You'll learn to control this power eventually Yugi, but maybe for now it would be best if you let me take over. You need to rest and the walls of my Puzzle can't be penetrated by the world's emotions; we've already proven that.'

'Maybe you're right,' Yugi gave a heavy sigh as the pain in his chest magnified further, 'because I've had just about all I can take of this.'

* * *

'Do you think it's raining like this in Domino too right now?' Catilin tilted her head in thought as she studied the falling rain.

'It's unlikely Cat,' Joey folded his arms and leant against the wall beside the window, 'the weather on Sil rarely reflects the weather in Domino, you know that.'

'I know, but wouldn't it be really weird if the two things were connected somehow, because something big and important was about to happen.'

'The only thing which is about to happen Cat is me dropping you home,' Joey sighed. 'The others left hours ago and Mai and I need to start getting ready for our Temple visit.'

'I wish the others had stayed longer, I miss not being able to go with you to Earth and see them,' Catilin pouted, 'are you sure I can't come with you to the gathering tomorrow?'

'I'm sure.'

'But it's not fair.'

'You're being punished Cat, it's not supposed to be fair. Now come on, let me Jump you home.'

'But there's something about the rain,' Catilin pressed her hand against the window, 'don't you feel it hiet braysta?'

'All I feel right now is tired,' he massaged the back of his neck, 'it's been a long day.'

'I think it must be raining like this somewhere on Earth right now,' Catilin persisted.

'Probably, Earth is a big place after all. Well big compared to Sil anyway.'

'I think it's raining like this in Domino right now, maybe you should call Yugi and find out.'

'What I think Cat is that it's time for you to go home.'

'But the rain is important, I know it is.'

'The rain is just rain Cat,' he glanced towards the window, 'and it's time for you to go.'


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As the rain pounded loudly against the window behind him, Kaiba stared almost vacantly at the computer screen. He didn't really have the concentration for this right now; there were too many other things on his mind. Things which the heavy and oppressive rain made feel even more daunting. Tomorrow would be the first time he'd faced Yugi and the others since he'd become host to the Pure. Up until this point he'd been deliberately avoiding them and in the process he'd left Mokuba feeling understandably neglected.

He gave a heavy sigh and pushed his chair back from his desk. Awkwardly he got to his feet and made his way towards the window. Three months had done a lot to improve his coordination, but it still wasn't quite right. His body was covered from head to toe in fresh bruises from the numerous inanimate objects he'd walked into or tripped over in the last week because his body wouldn't always do what he wanted it to. And now he would have to face Yugi and Joey knowing full well he hadn't regained complete control over his motor function. Okay, so according to Mokuba neither of them had fully adjusted to being hosts yet either, but he was Seto Kaiba, he couldn't afford to have any weaknesses, _they_ could.

Still if he put off seeing them for any longer then they would know just how much he was suffering because of the Pure and Kaiba couldn't allow that either. Besides there were other factors at play here. A flash of lightning tore across the sky and a few seconds later a ripple of thunder roared out. In that one moment Kaiba could sense the true importance of the storm and he wasn't the only one. Inside of him the Pure stirred; something big and unmistakably important was about to happen and neither one of them could afford to miss it when it did.

* * *

In the early morning light and with sleep bleary eyes Téa hadn't been sure at first she was really seeing who she thought she was seeing. Then, as her mind slowly pulled itself awake, a strange kind of certainty filtered through her.

'Tristan?' Her words were drowned out by the heaviness of the rain which hadn't let up since the night before. 'Tristan?' She tried again, louder, but still he didn't appear to hear her.

Lowering her head and the umbrella she was holding slightly, she did her best to run down the rain drenched streets towards him.

'Tristan,' she caught hold of his arm, 'is it really...?'

Before she could finish her sentence he'd pulled his arm away. With her balance already a little off his action was enough to send her crashing face first towards the pavement. The second her body collided with the ground she cried out in pain.

'Tristan...' she half rolled over in order to stare up at him.

The eyes which met with hers were filled with anger, fear and confusion. The same three emotions hardened Tristan's jaw line and caused him to clench and unclench his fists several times. A part of Téa was afraid he wanted to hurt her, but that fear came from an irrational place of pain sparked by the unexpected nature of the situation. Without a word Tristan bent down and rescued her umbrella before it had a chance to blow any further down the street. He then held it over her as she got back to her feet, half surprised he hadn't offered her a hand in getting up.

For a few moments they both stood staring at each other in silence, then Téa reached out a hand to touch him just to make sure he was really there. He flinched back before she could and his eyes filled with a warning look.

'Are you...' Téa's mouth felt dry, 'are you really here?'

'It looks that way, doesn't it?' Tristan's voice was flat and edged with a strange level of annoyance.

'Do... do the others know you're back yet?'

'No.'

'Then you should come with me to Yugi's, we're...'

'No,' he cut her off.

'No?' Téa frowned at him. 'But everyone's been so worried about you, they...'

'I'm not here to see them, not yet.'

'I...'

'I haven't even been to see my parents yet,' he turned his head away from her.

'Uh... sorry, I thought...'

'Whatever it was you thought, you thought wrong Téa. The only reason you saw me at all was by chance. Here,' he pushed the umbrella in her direction, 'I don't need this.'

'But your jacket doesn't even have a hood; you'll catch your death of cold.'

'If only I could,' he gritted his teeth.

'Tristan...?'

'What's the matter Téa, were you expecting me to come back as the _good old Tristan_? The person I was before Battle City, before everything started to change. That Tristan is gone and there's no way for him to come back.'

'That doesn't mean you're not my friend,' Téa jutted out her chin, 'and that doesn't mean I don't care about you.'

'Still singing the same old tune,' Tristan rolled his eyes, 'you don't change Téa.'

'If changing means I have to stop caring about my friends, then who wants to?' She took the umbrella back off him.

'Friendships change with people, but if you don't change with them then you'll just get left behind.' Tristan turned his gaze back towards her. 'Everything and everyone is changing Téa; they change because they have to. You'll gain nothing from remaining as you are.'

'But I won't necessarily lose anything either,' Téa felt like she had to stand her ground. 'And you're right, people do change, they change all the time, but good friends don't care about things like that. Good friends will always be there for each other no matter how much they change over the years. Hasn't everything we've been through together proven that to you?'

'Whatever,' he started walking away.

'Tristan,' she jumped after him, grabbing hold of his arm as she did.

'Let go of me,' he violently pulled his arm away this time, sending her crashing even harder to the ground.

'Tristan?' Téa gawked up at him.

'Things are changing Téa, change with them or lose everything.'

'What...? What's that supposed to mean?'

Tristan didn't answer, instead he just walked away. Téa could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest as she gathered herself back to her feet again and rescued her umbrella. Tristan had returned even more like the stranger he was becoming than when he'd left. But it didn't matter how much he tried to push the others away, their friendship was strong and they would break through to him eventually. As he disappeared from sight, Téa gave a heavy sigh and continued on her way to the Kame Game shop. She now had the in her hands the best piece of information any of them had had in months; changed or not Tristan was finally home.

* * *

His sandy brown hair stuck to the sides of his face like drenched rat tails. His black sleeved white top and black combat style trousers were both soaked through and clung tightly round his body as the wind battered against him. In his whole life he had never experienced a storm with this much natural power and poetic chaos; it was just a shame that power was no longer going to be harnessed.

'I am chaos,' he stretched his arms out and lifted his head to the sky, 'I am the storm. I'm changing the details, but I'm not changing what I am. I will always be chaos. I am the storm. I am chaos.'

'Is that what the C stands for?'

'What makes you think the C stands for anything?' He turned towards his expected guest.

'You expect me to believe your name is CL, just CL and that those letters don't stand for anything?' His guest cocked an eyebrow.

'You mock the idea of my name actually being CL, yet you have no problem with thinking its Chaos?' CL smirked at him.

'Whatever, do you have what we need?'

'Here,' he pulled the bag he was carrying off his back and tossed it towards his guest. 'Just remember what we talked about though, yeah? You're to take her and keep her off the radar, but that's it.'

'You know the longer I'm out in this storm, the more I'm starting to wonder why you want us to just wait,' his guest threw the bag onto his back. 'A storm like this is never going to come along again; just think about the potential you're wasting here.'

'Trust me, no one understands what will be lost better than I do,' CL turned away from him, 'but if you saw the hell I lived in you would know...' he clenched his fists. 'Things have to change, starting with this. If you get it right this time... if you do this and not them... then everything will change for the better. And who knows, maybe the power of the Duite will be enough to save whatever potential is lost.'

'I still think now is the best time...'

'You still think?' CL glanced back towards him. 'Are you sure he's not putting words into your mouth? I told you, you can't let them take control, it's the worst thing you could do right now. Things will just get messing and complicated and they won't change. You have to follow my plan, not theirs.'

There were a few long moments of silence as thunder rumbled across the sky.

'Is he still going through with tonight?' CL glanced towards his guest.

'He is as far as I know.'

'Then this is where it all begins again,' he clenched his fists and lowered his head slightly, 'here's to hoping I get it right this time.'

* * *

'Tristan's back?' Yugi wasn't quite sure how to process the information. 'Are you sure?'

'Positive, I spoke to him and everything,' Téa dried herself off with the towel Yugi had provided for her. 'In fact I can credit my overly drenched condition to him too.'

'What do you mean?' Duke frowned.

'Well let's just say I won't be trying to touch his arms again in a hurry,' she pulled a face, before giving a heavy sigh. 'I don't know, maybe he's just become sensitive about being touched, but both times I tried it I ended up face first on the pavement.'

'He deliberately pushed you over?' Yugi did his best to focus in on Téa's emotions, but Duke's proximity made it almost impossible.'

'I wouldn't say it was deliberate,' she began rubbing her hair with the towel, 'it felt more like a gut reaction. I mean, he wasn't violent towards me he just... had to shake me off I guess.'

'How did he seem?'

'Well three months away definitely hasn't done anything to improve his attitude,' Téa rolled her eyes. 'If anything it might have driven him even further towards being a moody, arrogant loner. You know all he really needs is a white trench coat and his own company and I would happily start calling him Kaiba.'

'Tristan Kaiba, could you imagine that,' Duke laughed.

Téa smirked back at him and the instant she did involuntary laughter came out of Yugi. He didn't think their joke was particularly funny, but because they did he had no control over his response. It was annoying, but it couldn't be helped. Instead of getting worked up about it, he did his best to suppress it, but doing so allowed the pain in his chest to elevate.

'Yugi are you okay?' Téa frowned at him. 'We... we're not hurting you are we?'

'It's not you,' he shook his head, 'it's the rain. I can sense everyone in the city right now. All their emotions are like a giant weight on my chest.'

'Is there anything we can do to help?'

'Can you stop the rain?' Yugi forced a laugh as he managed to get the pain under control again.

Before either of his friends could answer there was a knock at his bedroom door. It opened less than a second later to reveal his Grandpa.

'Yugi there's... someone downstairs for you.'

For a moment everything in the room fell into a strange kind of stillness as Yugi found his empathic abilities reaching out towards his Grandpa. He knew from the tone of voice as well as the choice of words there was something the old man wasn't telling him, but with so many other emotional distractions it was impossible for Yugi to read anything more into it than that.

'Who is it?' Yugi forced the words out of his mouth.

'They... they've asked me not to say, but I really think you should go down and see them.'

'Okay,' Yugi felt strangely numb as he got to his feet.

'Do you want us to come with you Yugi?' Duke frowned at him.

'No... no I can do this on my own,' Yugi shook his head. 'You guys wait here for me, I won't be long.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

He found himself examining the inside of the shop as he waited; it really hadn't changed. He didn't know if that was a comfort to him or not. After all _she_ hadn't changed and all that had done was annoy him. Still there was something about being back in familiar surroundings which felt almost comforting. Almost.

As he finished his search he found himself taking a seat on the counter with his back towards the stairwell. He'd been hoping to put off a reunion for as long as possible, but his encounter with _her_ kind of forced his hand. If he didn't put in an appearance sooner rather than later too many questions might be asked. Questions he'd much rather avoid facing.

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs made him pull anxiously at the sleeves of his jacket. They suddenly didn't feel long enough. Heck they could cover his entire hands and they would never feel long enough. An involuntary laugh forced its way out of him as he was hit by a sudden and unexpected wave of fear. Without waiting for the footsteps to reach the bottom of the stairs he jumped down from the counter and began making his way out of the shop.

'Wait.'

The sound of Yugi's voice behind him brought him to a sudden and unwilling stop. For the longest time he felt like he was frozen. Frozen because facing Yugi wasn't like accidently bumping into Téa. Bumping into Téa had been unplanned and even if it wasn't he didn't need to think about what he said to her. She wasn't a Mistress of Light. She didn't know what had happened in Kama Traydon. She was just this rigid little being whose inability to change made her almost unimportant. But Yugi was a different story. Yugi knew why he'd runaway. And if Yugi had managed to figure out how to use the Face of Friendship's empathic ability to any degree it probably wouldn't take him long to figure out why he was back.

'It was a mistake,' his voice sounded as dry as his mouth felt.

'What was? Running away or coming back?'

'Both. Neither. Coming here now, I'm not ready for this,' he shook his head. 'If Téa hadn't seen me...'

'You wouldn't be here now?' He heard Yugi take a step towards him. 'But you are.'

'Yeah, I had kind of noticed that.'

'Will you stay?'

'I have things to do,' he shook his head.

'Things which can't wait?' He could hear the curiosity in Yugi's voice.

'Things which can't wait,' he glanced back towards Yugi. 'Please don't ask me to stay.'

'I'm not going to force you to stay if you don't want to Tristan,' Yugi shook his head, 'but I haven't seen you in months and... We've all been really worried about you.'

'I know,' he lowered his gaze, 'but I really can't stay. There's a lot I need to do and there's not a whole lot of time for me to do it in.'

'Maybe we can help.'

The notion of his friends helping made him laugh. What he had to do none of them would want to help him with.

'I have to go,' he made his way towards the door, 'tell the others I'm... sorry, I just can't be around people right now.'

'I thought you said you had things to do,' Yugi's voice toned with uncertainty.

'I do,' he hesitated in the doorway for a moment, 'but I never said those things involved people.'

* * *

'So who was it?' Duke eyed up the slightly pale expression on Yugi's face as he re-entered the room.

'Tristan.'

The name hung in the air for the longest time. The prolonged silence made Duke feel uncomfortable, although for Yugi's sake he tried to keep those emotions as much under control as possible. He may not have totally understood the whole empathic thing, but he hated the thought that his emotions could hurt one of his friends without him meaning it to.

'Why didn't you get him to stay,' Téa broke the silence.

'I tried,' Yugi gave a nervous cough, 'he said he had things he needed to do. Things which involved him not being around other people apparently. I guess... I guess he's not ready to reconnect with us yet, but...'

'Because I bumped into him this morning he felt like he needed to put in an appearance,' Téa rolled her eyes.

'Yeah...'

'Well unfortunately for me, he's not the only one with other things to do,' Duke sighed as his phone alarm went off. 'This gathering for the sake of gathering meal is at six, right?'

'Yeah, that was the time we agreed on,' Yugi nodded.

'Is that the time Mokuba said he was sending the car out or is that the time we're supposed to be there for?'

'The time we're supposed to be there for,' Téa smirked at him. 'How is it you can memorise your business timetable in the blink of an eye, yet can never remember the arrangements you've made with your friends?'

'Hey, I always show up, don't I?' Duke rolled his eyes. 'Okay so maybe I've been late a few times... but this is all just part of the Duke I am now. It's not like I flat out forget or anything. And for your information I have as much trouble remembering my business timetable as I do my personal one. I just set more reminders when it comes to work.'

'I'm just teasing Duke,' Téa poked her tongue out at him and laughed.

'Whatever,' he shrugged as he got to his feet, 'my car should be outside for me any second now, I'll see you guys later.'

'Later Duke.'

'See you tonight,' Yugi nodded at him as he left the room.

Duke rapidly made his way down the stairs and outside. It was still raining as hard as it had been when he left the house that morning. On days like this business was usually really slow; people were normally put off by the heaviness of the rain. Personally Duke didn't blame them, if he had a choice he wouldn't venture out into either. But just because business was slow didn't mean he didn't have a million and one things to sort out before he could even think about getting ready for the meal that evening. In the months since Tristan's disappearance Duke had started to wonder how his pre-amnesia self had coped with running a business of this magnitude on his own. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy it; it just wasn't the life he would have picked out for his teenage self.

After five minutes of waiting for his car to turn up a deep frown pulled across his face. He checked the time, before checking the reminders on his phone and eventually giving a heavy sigh as he realised he'd forgotten to tell them to send a car for him. Not willing to be any later for the meeting than he had to be, he headed out into the rain. Lowering his head slightly, he broke into a run, hoping if he got to the Black Clown Game Shop fast enough he'd have enough time to dry off before anyone arrived. He was almost there when his whole body juddered with the shock of running head first into somebody.

'I'm so sorry, I...'

The words caught in his throat the second he saw who it was he'd collided with. For the longest time he tried to find some words, any words, but all he could do was stand there and gawk.

'Don't you think we should go somewhere a little drier?' The guy he'd collided with folded his arms. 'Only I've had just about all I can take of talking in the rain today.'

* * *

Mai tipped out the contents of her suitcase for the third time and began sorting through the potential items she was taking with her. She had no idea what sort of things she was going to need and had already spent almost a whole day changing her mind about what to take. Her eyes turned towards the suitcase Joey had packed for himself the night before. It was the same style small, overnight travel case as the one Mai was attempting to pack and it barely looked as though it had anything in it at all.

A part of her was tempted to go over and see what he'd packed for himself, but a sudden knock on the door stopped her. She stared up to see Joey grinning in at her from the open doorway.

'Did you forget this is your room too?' Mai narrowed her gaze at him for a moment.

'I guess I'm still getting used to you living here,' he shrugged. 'You know you look so cute when you're concentrating.'

'Are you sure you have everything you need for our visit to the Temple of Mov tomorrow,' her eyes turned back towards his suitcase.

'We're only going to be there one night Mai, it's not like I'm going to need to bring my entire wardrobe with me,' he eyed up the dishevelled former contents of Mai's suitcase strewed across the bed.

'Yes, but what if...'

'There's no what ifs with this Mai, you need to stop stressing about it.'

'That's easy for you to say,' she folded her arms, 'you're not the one who's being judged here.'

'Nobodies going to judge you Mai, it's not like we weren't all living with Standing less than a year ago. Okay, so maybe I'm the first Silkoneon to ever knowingly and officially take one as their mate...' Joey cut himself off and scratched the back of his head. 'Sorry, I mean partner.'

'It's okay, I know mate is the Etean word for it,' Mai turned away from him, 'it's one of the few animal sounding terms you use which doesn't bother me too much.' She sighed. 'So what time are they expecting us tomorrow?'

'Just before lunch, which gives me time in the morning to make sure Cat's okay before we set out.' Joey folded his arms. 'I'm pretty confident everyone knows what they're going to be doing whilst we're away, but... this is the first time I've left both households overnight before.'

'You need to stop worrying so much about Catilin's household,' Mai shook her head, 'they know what they're doing.'

'I know, but...'

'Joey I've not seen you all morning because you've been running ragged between here and the Northern Palace. I could really have done with your help packing.'

'If I'd known you would be this worried about it I might have,' Joey frowned at her. 'Then again I still think you should have done it last night when I did.'

'What and then have the joy of spending the morning on my own with nothing to do? I don't think so Wheeler.' Mai smirked.

'Do you want me to give you a hand now,' he made his way towards the bed, 'only I know how long you take to get ready to go out and if you don't finish packing soon we will be late for the _sake of gathering_ meal.'

'That's not till six and its only just midday now.'

'Exactly,' he smirked.

She glared at him for a moment, before laughing. A part of her wished she could relax about the Temple visit, but something in her kept biting at the pit of her stomach. A loud crash of thunder from outside made her jump and turn her gaze towards the window.

'It's still raining,' she shivered.

'Yeah,' Joey frowned, 'it is.'


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

'I'm not sure I believe you're really here,' Duke glanced across at his guest as he attempted to prepare for his meeting and dry off at the same time.

'I'm not sure if I do either,' Tristan averted his gaze as he tugged at the sleeves of his jacket.

There were a few long moments of silence.

'How are you?'

'More than a little sick of that question,' Tristan's whole body tensed.

'I...'

'Sorry, it's nothing personal, I just...' he shrugged.

There were a few more moments of silence. Duke gave a nervous cough and focused his attention on Tristan for a moment. He didn't look as hollow as Duke had been expected, but then Duke had assumed Tristan had spent the last three months on the road travelling, getting by on whatever little money he had to scrape together. He had expected Tristan to come back looking thinner, but more alive because of his experiences. Duke wasn't about to say Tristan appeared to be the complete opposite either, but he wasn't far off.

'Tristan why are you here?'

'Do you mean back in Domino or...?'

'Both, either, I'm not sure it makes much of a difference, does it?'

'I need to ask a favour of you,' Tristan met his gaze.

'And let me guess, the others aren't to know about it, right?' Duke cocked an eyebrow.

'Actually I couldn't care less if you told them about it or not,' Tristan rolled his eyes, 'I didn't wait until you were on your own because I didn't want them to know about it. I just wanted to avoid the hassle of a whole load of questions I don't want to answer.'

'How do you know I won't ask you the same questions they would have?'

'Because you're the one who doesn't ask questions,' Tristan clasped his hands together in front of him. 'You're also the only one I trust enough to do this. The others would just act on their relentless concern for me, whereas you'll do what I ask because you know it's what I need.'

'Great, so now all I need to know is what it is you're asking,' Duke folded his arms, 'and can you make it quick I'm due to head a staff meeting in less than ten minutes and I'm not ready for it yet.'

'Well I guess that will stop you from asking too many questions regardless then,' Tristan got up from his sitting place and walk towards Duke. 'Here, I want you to have this,' he pulled a sealed unmarked envelope out of his pocket. 'If anything happens to me I want you to open it.'

'If anything happens to you?' Duke frowned. 'Anything like what?'

'Does it matter?' Tristan turned away from him. 'To be honest I'm not sure you're going to understand what I've given you or why anyway, but... The contents of that envelop will remind me of who I really am. If anything happens to me I want to be able to remember.'

'I don't understand,' Duke shook his head.

'You're not meant to,' Tristan made his way towards the door. 'Just make sure you don't open that envelop unless something happens, okay? I only need to be reminded _if_ something happens. If nothing does then I will just take the envelop back.'

* * *

She gave a heavy sigh and stared up at her ceiling. Inside her she felt the baby stir slightly and, for an odd half moment, she couldn't help but wonder if it was restless because of the storm or for the same reason she was. She couldn't help but laugh at her own thoughts, her baby wasn't conscious enough to be restless because of the storm, but it could probably sense her anxiety. And she was anxious. More than anxious. So anxious she wished she could just disappear down some hole somewhere and never see anyone ever again.

The baby made several more uncomfortable movements inside of her making her stomach feel oddly tight and sore. She wasn't sure if it was normal or not, but the last thing she wanted to do was draw any more attention to herself. She was already the talk of the whole Temple and not in a good way.

A gentle tapping at the door made her start; it was too early to be dinner time and she'd specifically requested not to be disturbed. For a few moments she was too stunned to think, then the tapping came again.

'Crovell? Crovell are you alright in there?'

'Go away Covo, I don't want to see anyone right now,' she kept her voice as level as possible. 'I'm not well.'

'I know; I just wanted to know if there was anything you needed.'

'I'm fine,' she turned away from the door.

'No, no you're not,' Covo's voice was calm and level. 'If you were fine you wouldn't keep shutting yourself off from everyone like this. Please let me in Crovell, I can help you. I want to help you.'

'I'm not the person you think I am. I'm not the person who deserves the kindness of anyone, especially not someone like you.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

For a heartbeat there was silence. Even she had to admit to herself she wasn't totally sure what she'd meant. Covo was a nice guy, strong, caring, protective, not to mention the only person in the entire Temple who'd come close to making her feel good about herself. He was one of the good guys and that was the whole problem. After what she'd done she didn't deserve a good guy. She didn't deserve anyone.

'Crovell? Crovell...?'

'Please leave me alone Covo,' she closed her eyes, 'I just want to be left alone.'

* * *

As soon as they arrived on the Kaiba's doorstep Joey knew something wasn't right. His gaze turned out towards the storm behind him and a deep rooted shudder ran down his spine as he remembered Catilin's words from the night before.

'Are you okay Joey?' Mai placed a hand on his shoulder.

'It's raining here too.'

'So if it rains on Sil there can't be rain anywhere else?' Mai rolled her eyes. 'It's just a coincidence Joey, nothing more.'

'I know... I mean, I know you're right, but...' he gripped the material of his shirt, 'I feel like it's more than that.'

'Is this a Silkoneon thing or a Mistress thing?' Mai frowned at him.

'I'm not sure, but there's one way of finding out.'

'Oh no, you're not talking business with Yugi tonight,' Mai narrowed her gaze on him, 'you know how hard Mokuba's worked to get his brother here, he will not be happy if you chase him off in the first five minutes.'

'If it's a Mistress thing it concerns him too, whether he likes it or not,' Joey folded his arms as the door behind them opened.

'Maybe, but it can wait. We promised Mokuba, _you_ promised Mokuba and I'm going to make sure you stick to it.'

Joey sighed and felt himself relenting. Mai was right; whatever was going on could wait. Although if anyone else brought it up Joey wasn't going to sit back and say nothing. The two of them followed the butler who'd opened the door to them through the house to the same dining room Joey and the others had relived Kayma's story in. The others were already gathered and there was a spread of food across the table just waiting to be eaten.

A huge grin pulled across Joey's face, food was one of the few things which could make him forget about everything; unfortunately for him the storm outside had other ideas. Seconds after he crossed the threshold into the dining room a bright streak of lightning lit up the sky outside. In the exact same moment an excruciating blast of pain shot through the back of his skull, blackening his vision and very nearly making him black out. His cry of pain was joined by that of two others.

'Joey...?' Mai's voice was filled with concern. 'Joey are you alright?'

Joey shook his head and stumbled almost blindly in the direction of the nearest chair. Somehow he managed to sit himself down without falling over. The pain was nowhere near as intense now, but it was still strong enough to throw his thoughts into complete disorientation. Somehow he managed to shift his gaze towards the other two hosts. Kaiba was leaning heavily on another chair for support, whereas Yugi was gripping his chest as though he were in the middle of a heart attack.

'What the hell's going on?' Kaiba's face screwed with pain as his hand shot up to cover his left eye.

'I... I don't know...' Joey shook his head as the pain finally started to subside.

'I knew coming to this thing was a bad idea,' his uncovered eye glared at Joey.

'You say that as though this is my fault somehow.'

'Isn't it?' Kaiba lowered his hand and Joey felt his heart almost stop dead in his chest.

'You... you can access the Pure's power?'

'What?' The expression on Kaiba's face was unreadable.

'You... your eye... it's...'

'My eye is what?' Kaiba winced again as his hand tapped around his left eye socket.

'Your eye's Flipped,' Joey swallowed hard. 'You... you've Flipped your left eye.'


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

'Aren't you getting sick of this rain?'

'Are you kidding,' CL smirked at his companion, 'weather like this makes me feel alive. Can't you just feel the intensity of the magic in the air right now?'

'I think so,' he turned his face to the sky, 'it also feels like its still building.'

'It is and when it reaches its climax all magic everywhere will be heightened beyond belief.'

'And this is exactly why I don't understand you plan,' his companion shook his head, 'the potential...'

'I know exactly what that potential will do, where I'm from it got utilised. Believe me it got utilised, but there were consequences and that's what I'm trying to change. That's why she has to be completely off the radar before this storm reaches its peak, because if she's not... then they'll find out about it and... and it will be much harder to change things then.'

'And things have to change,' his companion turned his attention back towards the window.

'We can both agree on that,' CL gave a heavy sigh. 'Huh...' he tilted his head to one side as he sensed a change going on inside the room beyond the window.

'What is it?'

'Something that didn't happen the first time, can't you sense it?'

His companion lifted his hand towards the window for a moment and closed his eyes.

'Do you sense it?' CL studied him for a moment.

'Did you do that?' He narrowed his gaze on CL.

'No, I didn't,' he laughed, 'but I guess this is a repercussion for not using _their_ plan.'

'Are you saying _she's_ done this?'

'I wouldn't put it passed her,' he pulled a face. 'This is going to make things harder for the two of you now; do you think you can handle it?'

'We're not relying on...'

'I don't mean harder in that way,' CL cut him off. 'No matter what you can't give into them, because there's no way they're going to ignore the potential.'

'But we will?' His companion cocked an eyebrow.

'That's what I was told,' he swept some of the wet hair back from his forehead, 'and that's what I chose to believe.'

* * *

The throbbing in his left eye had all but died away now and for a few long moments Kaiba found himself staring at Joey.

'What... what did you just say?'

'Your left eye has Flipped,' Joey's face filled with a serious look, 'it's brown when it should be blue. So I want to know, can you access the Pure's powers?'

'Can you access the First's?' Kaiba tried to stay as calm as possible.

There were only two people who knew he could access the Pure's powers and one of those was the Pure herself. Kaiba had decided to keep that little detail as quiet as possible until he'd mastered using all of her abilities, that way he'd at least have an advantage over Joey for a short while.

'I've never tried,' Joey pulled himself to his feet. 'But then the First is kind of one of my gods and I have more respect for her than to go messing with things I don't understand.'

'And you think I have no respect for the Pure?'

'Until three months ago you didn't even believe she existed,' Joey folded his arms, 'that doesn't exactly scream the word _respect_ at me.'

'Joey, calm down,' Yugi clutched his chest and winced, 'I don't think Kaiba's been messing with the Pure's power. I think whatever it was the three of us got hit with just now triggered an accidental Flip and the Face of Friendship agrees with me.'

'So does the First,' Joey rolled his eyes, 'but only because it was the left eye.'

'I don't understand,' Duke frowned, 'wouldn't a single eye be more suspicious and not less?'

'The Pure's left eye always changes colour when something unexpected affects her powers.' Joey shrugged. 'Apparently the sisters used to call it the Involuntary Flip and although it hurts about as much as a normal Flip would, it doesn't come with the normal side effects.'

'Side effects...?' Téa stared at him for a moment.

'You mean it won't create a separate personality, right?' Mokuba's face filled with a strange kind of relief.

'Right,' Kaiba hardened his jaw and wished Joey wasn't enjoying explaining things so much. 'But since I don't know how to use the Pure's powers, how do I fix this. People are going to notice if my eyes are suddenly two different colours.'

'Ask the Pure about it,' Joey shrugged, 'maybe she can do something for you. Although it's going to hurt just as much going back the other way you know.'

'Well since my genetic code will be rewritten in the process I'm not surprised.'

'How did you know that's how the Flip works?' Joey narrowed his gaze on Kaiba.

'I may not know how to used the Pure's powers, but that doesn't mean I haven't asked her about them,' Kaiba turned away from him and prayed something would distract the others from this conversation sooner rather than later.

'Why would you do that?'

'She is taking residency in my body, isn't she?' Kaiba glanced back towards him. 'I have a right to know as much about her as I please. You can't tell me you haven't quizzed the First in the same way, because you've already confirmed you communicate with her.'

Joey went to say something, but before words could actually come out of his mouth Téa leapt in with the much needed change in conversation. It was just a shame her choice of topic was as unsettling as the previous conversation had been.

'Tristan's back.'

'What?' Joey turned his attention towards her.

'Sorry... I...' Téa turned her gaze away, 'you guys arguing was hurting Yugi.'

Joey's face filled with a look of horrified realisation as he glanced towards his friend. Kaiba sighed and followed Joey's gaze. It was clear from the pain on Yugi's face he was nowhere near as close to getting on top of his _consequence_ as Joey and Kaiba were. In all honesty he didn't know whether to feel annoyed at his incompetence or pity him.

'Sorry Yuug,' Joey's face filled with a sheepish look, 'I forgot you're an empath now.'

'It doesn't help that the rain's magnifying everything either,' Yugi winced as his gaze lifted to meet with the blond's. 'But Téa wasn't lying when she said Tristan's back.'

'And you guys waited till now to tell me?'

'Well you didn't exactly give us much opportunity after you first arrived,' Duke rolled his eyes.

'Yeah, but there's a phone line in the Southern Palace now and you all have the number.'

'I guess it just felt like something we should do in person,' Téa shrugged, 'sorry.'

'Its fine, I understand,' Joey shrugged, 'so how was he?'

'Different, but kind of the same,' Duke pressed his lips together.

'Wait a minute Duke, how do you know what he was like, only me and Yugi saw him?' Téa frowned.

'He came to me after he'd seen Yugi,' Duke gave a nervous laugh, 'I guess I forgot to mention that.'

'So much for him having _things to do which don't involve seeing people_,' Téa rolled his eyes. 'I'm starting to feel like he has something against me personally. I mean he sort both you and Yugi out...'

'Yeah, but even he acknowledged he only came to see me because you bumped into him,' Yugi shot her a sympathetic look.

'And he only came to me because he wanted to ask me a favour,' Duke pulled a face.

'What kind of favour?' Joey frowned.

'It was a little bit on the weird side; he gave me this envelope and told me not to open it unless something happened to him. He said I was the only one he trusted.'

The words made Kaiba's stomach lurch in a sick fashion. Before anyone could notice the colour draining from his face Kaiba made his way towards the door, he'd had just about all he could take of this.

'Seto where are you going?' Mokuba caught hold of his arm.

'To talk to the Pure about my eye,' Kaiba bluffed, 'I need to concentrate in order to talk to her and I can't do that with everyone babbling around me.'

'But...?'

'I'll be back once I'm done Mokuba,' Kaiba turned his gaze towards the window for a moment, 'I promise.'

* * *

He couldn't help but smirk a little when the other boy jumped at the sight of his reflection. His approach had been deliberately soft and quiet because there'd been something strangely cute about the look of concentration on the other boy's face. But the more he'd allowed himself to indulge that thought, the more his stomach knotted with strange feelings. Feelings which eventually forced him to reveal himself.

'What are you doing here?' The other boy spun round to face him.

'I sensed a change; I wanted to make sure everything was okay.'

'Because you don't trust me?' The other boy sounded disgusted.

'No, that's not it.'

'Are you sure?'

'What's gotten into you? You're acting like I've hurt you somehow, you don't care, remember?'

'Right,' the other boy gritted his teeth and turned away, 'I don't care and _you_ don't trust me.'

'I never said I didn't trust you,' he grabbed hold of the other boy's wrist, forcing him to meet his gaze. 'I trust you,' he placed his free hand on the other boy's cheek, 'it's myself I don't trust.'

For a few long moments they both just stared at each other. Those same stomach knotting feelings from before stirred within him. The temptation was strong; it was overwhelming his senses and it was just about all he could do to hold himself back. A part of him wondered if the other boy felt this way, but he already knew the answer. The other boy didn't care and if it wasn't for her influence the two of them wouldn't even be talking right now.

'This is wrong,' he pulled himself away.

'I know.'

'I should go before someone finds me here.'

'I know.'

He turned away from the other boy, but couldn't motivate himself to leave. Everything in him wanted to give into the feelings swirling inside of him, but he knew... he knew giving into them would just bring about disaster. At least that's if the kid was to be believed.

'You don't care. I don't care; that's how things are supposed to be, right?' He glanced back towards the other boy. 'This is all them, not us.'

'Right.'

'Then they must be so much stronger than we are,' he finally managed to force himself to walk away, 'because this is way too hard.'

* * *

Jay was lying flat on his back, staring up at the book he was reading when SK entered the small bedroom like chamber his companion occupied. SK had a similar one just down the hall and in between both rooms was the chamber where SK did the majority of his studying. Nethher Herin might not have needed sleep, but that didn't mean they didn't enjoy having their own space and the opportunity to rest should they require it.

'Is it that time of the month again already,' Jay turned a page in the book he was reading and continued to stare up at it.

'You were the one who suggested I send monthly reports to the Mistresses,' SK licked his lips as he leant against Jay's doorframe, 'so you could at least sound a little more enthusiastic about it.'

'I would if there were ever anything to report.'

'Who says there's not this time?'

'Octan and I would sense it.'

'Your powers have been dampened, remember?' SK licked his lips again.

'Dampened, but not switched off,' Jay continued to stare up at the book.

'Then why can't you sense what's going on in their reality right now?'

'Huh?' Jay finally lowered the book to stare at him.

'There's a storm like no other hitting both Domino and Sil right now.' SK folded his arms as his tongue skated across his lips. 'Now maybe it's nothing, but it does have the gods, not to mention several other notable Higher Beings jumping like there's something important coming.'

'And is there? I mean, you're not telling me to go report that there's something weird about this storm without knowing what it is, are you?'

'That's exactly what I'm doing Jay; my research turned up nothing, except that there's never been a storm quite like this one before.'

'And what's what you want me to tell the Mistresses?' Jay got to his feet. 'It's really not a lot to go on and I might as well just tell them there's nothing to report.'

'I get to decide things like that Jay and you know it,' SK narrowed his gaze on him. 'Now go do as I've asked and remember I'm only giving you permission to see the Mistresses.'

'Yeah, yeah, yeah,' Jay rolled his eyes.

'A little less of the attitude Jay, I like ordering you around about as much as you like taking orders.'

'Sorry,' Jay shrugged, 'I guess I'm just bored a lot these days and I really don't like being bored.'

'Well then when you get back we'll figure out a better way for you to spend your time,' SK licked his lips once more, 'right now Jay you're choosing to be bored.'

'Maybe I am, but it's not like you've given me permission for anything else.'


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

'Hiet braysta? Hiet braysta are you back yet?' She shivered as water dripped off of almost every single part of her body. 'Hiet braysta? Veronie?'

'It's no use, he isn't here,' his voice made her jump.

'What are you doing here?'

'My monthly report,' he folded his arms. 'SK thinks there's something off with this weather and now that I'm down here I'm inclined to agree.'

'I can feel the storm,' her whole body trembled, 'it buzzes.'

For a few seconds he stared at her, then he sighed and shook his head.

'Your Silkoneon powers were blocked, but your Calicaccu ones come from a separate source. Your ability to sense things is probably a lot better now than it was because it's all you have to rely on.'

'Did Octan tell you that?' She grinned at him, before she made a noise of realisation. 'Will we get into trouble for this? We're not supposed to see each other.'

'It wasn't intentional,' he shook his head.

'But that doesn't mean we won't get into trouble,' her lower lip trembled. 'I don't want to get into more trouble for things which aren't my fault.'

'It's okay, so long as we're not both together when they get back then no one will know.' He turned away from her. 'Since there's no one here for me to report to right now I should leave anyway. And I know you're cold and wet right and probably not looking to head back out into that rain anytime soon, but maybe you should think about heading back to the Northern Palace.'

'Mm,' she nodded, 'you'll be telling him about the storm anyway and that's why I'm here. He didn't really listen to me yesterday, but I wanted to know if the storm was happening in Domino too, that way I could have made him listen to me.'

'Well it's my job to do that. You go home and get dry before you catch your death of cold.'

'You can't catch death, death catches you,' she giggled.

'You know what I mean Cat,' he reached a hand towards her, then hesitated. 'Be safe, okay? Whatever's going on with this weather I get the feeling it's going to creep up on us before we even know what's going on; so be careful, okay?'

'I will Jay.' She smiled at him. 'See you.'

* * *

'Three hours,' Mokuba folded his arms and narrowed his gaze on his brother, 'it took you three hours to figure it out? Wasn't the Pure being very talkative?'

Kaiba was taken a little aback by the abruptness of his brother's questioning. Not that he could blame him, three hours was a ridicules amount of time to have stayed away. But it wasn't as though he could help it, truth was the Pure wasn't able, or at least wasn't willing to, reverse the Flip on his left eye and he'd been forced to find a blue contact which matched the colour of his right. There was no way he wanted to give the others any reason to think something was wrong, unfortunately that meant neglecting Mokuba... again.

'I'm sorry,' he turned, 'I got called away to the office.'

'And you didn't think to tell me before you left?'

'Since when do I report my every movement to my little brother?'

'Since you started bailing on me every time I want to do something with you,' Mokuba sounded more than a little annoyed. 'The others have only just left too, which makes me thing you did it on purpose.'

'Maybe I did,' Kaiba turned back towards his brother, 'but you know how I feel about those losers...'

'Yes, but I'm starting to think you feel the same way about me,' Mokuba lowered his gaze.

'How can you think that?'

'How can I not when I know you're keeping something from me?'

'What makes you think that?' Kaiba felt his palms start to sweat slightly.

'Do you know how many times in the last couple of months I've gone to Kaiba Corp HQ to spend a little time with you only to be told you're out for the day?' Mokuba half turned away from him. 'Then those same evenings when I ask you how your day was you lie and say you were snowed under in your office all day. Or that you were in endless meetings. And to begin with I thought maybe you were using one of the other offices or you had meetings out of Kaiba HQ, but that's not it either, because I've checked.'

'Mokuba...?'

'Where have you really been going Seto? What are you hiding from me?'

'I...' Kaiba hesitated, 'I've just had a lot to get my head around recently. Becoming host to the Pure hasn't just affected me physically you know. I've just needed some... space to get my head around everything, you understand that, right?'

'I understand things aren't easy for you right now. They're not easy for Yugi either, but he's at least letting his friends help him out. You won't even give me the chance to.'

'I'm not like Yugi or that mutt Wheeler, you know that.'

'I know,' Mokuba's sad eyes turned towards him, 'but I also know I don't like you shutting me out all the time either. Seto I want the chance to understand what's happening to you before I feel like I've lost you forever. Stop pushing me away.'

'I can't make any promises Mokuba, but I will try harder not to make you feel so left out.'

'I know you want to mean it Seto,' Mokuba sighed, 'I just wish I could believe you.'

* * *

No matter how much Mai tried to settle, she couldn't. The storm still raging outside felt like some kind of bad omen. A bad omen making her feel even more anxious about the following day's visit to the Temple of Mov than she already was. Why was Joey making her do this? Okay, so she was the first Standing invited to stay in Sil and okay he was about to declare her his _official mate_, but why all the pomp and ceremony about it? Why couldn't it just be a private affair?

A heavy sigh escaped her; she already knew the answers to her own questions. Joey wasn't just any Silkoneon; he was a Lutoni and therefore a member of one of the four leading houses. On top of that he was also the host to the First Mistresses of Light and even if the second piece of information was kept behind closed doors, the first was not. No matter what spin she tried to put on it, Joey wasn't some faceless nobody who could just flout the rules and ignore his responsibilities anymore. It was just unfortunate those rules and responsibilities included her now.

There was a gentle tap at her door, which opened before she had a chance to respond. She rolled over to see who it was and was unsurprised to find Joey stood there. After a moment he closed the door behind him and leant back against it.

'Are you okay?' Mai frowned at him after a prolonged silence.

'I'm just wondering why you're sleeping in here again,' he averted his gaze.

'Because you've told me more than once that until I'm your official mate we can't officially share chambers,' she smirked at him, 'Besides as much as I love you Joey, we've still only been together for six months; right now I like having my cake and eating it.'

'I know.'

'Why do I get the feeling this isn't the conversation you came here to have?' Mai sat herself up and patted the bed beside her.

Hesitantly Joey made his way towards her, taking a seat next to her and turning his attention towards the window.

'Has nobody sorted out curtains for your chambers yet?'

'They keep trying, but I'm just being fussy,' Mai turned her own gaze towards the window, 'so far they've not presented me with anything I like.'

'Curtains are just curtains. You should just be grateful your windows have glass in them. It was one of the few upgrades we made to the buildings which nobody slacked over. I don't think any of us wanted to be without it when the weather turned sour.'

'Whereas I agree with you about the importance of glass in my windows, I'm going to have to disagree with your statement about curtains. When it's the only way in which I get to decorate these rooms you've given me it is _very_ important I get it right.'

'Okay, I can accept that,' Joey brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

Mai found herself frowning at him again. The pose he'd taken on was weird for him, but not so weird for the First or at least the times when the First was influencing Joey's behaviour. And whether Joey realised it or not she influenced his behaviour quite a bit, usually when something was bothering her.

'Are you okay?'

'There's something about this storm,' Joey shivered, 'and I don't think it's a coincidence Tristan's back now either. He must have been able to sense something.'

'Sense what exactly?' Mai flicked her gaze towards the window.

'Rain magnifies everything, including magic,' Joey rested his head on his raised knees. 'The longer it continues the greater the level of magnification, but I've never known it to be like this before. It's like this storm is magnifying the very essence of magic itself. Catilin sensed it right away, so why didn't I?'

'Catilin sensed it?' Mai cocked an eyebrow at him. 'I didn't think Catilin had any powers.'

'All her Elemental Magic was blocked, but that didn't take away her Calicaccu gifts. They were something innate she was born with, something she had access to even before her awakening, but since they're just passive abilities there was little point trying to find a way of blocking them.'

'You say that like you were the First.'

'Do I?' Joey stared at her for a moment. 'Sorry, I think the storm is heightening my connection to her.'

'Do you think the storm is some kind of omen?' Mai pressed her lips together.

'Almost definitely,' Joey sighed, 'I just wish I knew what for.'


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Mokuba wasn't sure if he was furious or completely indifferent to his brother forgetting they had lunch plans. But he did know he wasn't going to sit back and take it this time; not after the talk they'd had last night. Okay, so maybe his brother hadn't promised to become more diligent, but he had promised to try. People who promise to try shouldn't fall at the first hurdle.

He made his way into the Kaiba Corp building and stormed his way towards the unmanned front desk. Instantly his body prickled with irritation; the front desk should be manned at all times, whoever was supposed to be on duty was about to be in so much trouble. Mokuba leaned over the desk to reach for the intercom phone, as he did he noticed two of the camera feeds were off. His frown deepened further when he realised they were the feeds for his brother's office and the hallway outside of it.

'Can I help you sir?'

Mokuba jumped and turned round.

'Why weren't you at the desk?' Mokuba folded his arms and tried to act as angry as he'd felt a moment ago.

'I was getting my lunch,' he waved a sandwich in Mokuba's face.

'How long have you been working here for?'

'A few months,' the guy shrugged, 'why?'

'Didn't anyone ever tell you, you're not supposed to leave your station whilst you're on duty?' Mokuba forced the guy to meet his gaze. 'You're lucky my brother didn't catch you gone or else it would be your job. As it is I'm going to issue you with a verbal warning under the understanding it doesn't happen again, got it?'

'Yes sir,' the guy pulled an apologetic face as he made his way back to the desk.

For a few moments there was silence, then Mokuba forced himself to ask the question he needed answering.

'What happened to the feed from my brother's office?'

'Mr Kaiba turned the cameras off; he said he had an important client coming in for confidential talks and wanted to avoid any leaks.'

'Confidential talks?' Mokuba frowned.

'That's what I've been told.'

'Do you know who the client is?'

'No,' the guy shook his head, 'Mr Kaiba said he was letting them in through the back exit, which is why the cameras in the hallway outside his office are off too. Along with several others along the route,' he pointed to other blank feeds Mokuba hadn't noticed before. 'I'm surprised you didn't know about this Master Kaiba, we were all told to prepare for this a week ago after one of Mr Kaiba's trips.'

'Who said I didn't know?' Mokuba gritted his teeth and made his way towards the elevator.

'Ah... sir, Mr Kaiba's orders were very clear,' the guy started towards him, 'no one's to disturb him.'

Mokuba ignored him. If he wasn't sure what he was feeling about his brother standing him up before, he was certain he knew now. Kaiba was keeping something from him, something important. He may not have needed to know the daily ins and outs of Kaiba Corp, but Mokuba was still an important, if inactive, part of his brother's company. His brother had always kept him informed of important decisions, contracts and propositions in the past, what was so different about this time?

It didn't take long for the elevator to reach the floor he needed. Without hesitation he made his way towards his brother's office, but the sound of a familiar voice inside brought him to a stop.

'We can't...' the familiar voice sounded.

'I know,' his brother's voice sighed. 'You should go now; we can't risk you being late. They were reluctant to let you leave as it was, we can't give them any excuse to take you back.'

'As if you care.'

'Maybe I don't, but I'd rather not have wasted all that time and money on you. Besides, even the kid said neither one of us can make things right alone.'

The sound of footsteps approaching the door made Mokuba dart back towards the nearest alcove. He knew from experience he would have a good view of the rest of the hallway from here, but would be hidden enough not to be seen by those coming out of the office. They didn't take long to emerge either. Mokuba felt his heart pounding hard in his chest as the source of the familiar voice was positively identified. He wasn't totally sure what was going on, but he did know something felt very, very wrong with this situation.

He watched as the two of them made their way down the corridor towards the back exit. Mokuba then made his way towards Kaiba's office, looking for some kind of clue to explain what he'd just witnessed. There was nothing obvious, which meant Mokuba would have to force his brother into talking. This situation was too weird to go without explanation; the only problem was a part of Mokuba wasn't completely sure he wanted to know.

* * *

'What is it with you Ashmars and that book?'

Catilin jumped and stared up at her surprise visitor. Cayoon was stood with her hands on her hips and an impatient look on her face.

'Cayoon what are you doing here?'

'I was about to ask you the same thing Catilin, I thought we were meeting for lunch.'

'That was today?' Catilin bit her lower lip. 'Sorry, I guess with all the rain I got a little distracted.'

'Yes, well there is something about it I must admit,' Cayoon turned her gaze towards the window for a moment. 'I may not be an Active Calicaccu, but I am descended from the same Desmitus you are, more directly too I might add, and I have never been more aware of my connection to my ancestor than I am right now.'

'It's the rain. It magnifies everything, even those parts of us which are sleeping,' Catilin turned her attention back towards the book in front of her. 'There's never been a storm like this, but I think a couple of my ancestors saw it coming. That's why I got my copy of the Fabled Truths out.'

'Catilin,' Cayoon rolled her eyes and sighed, 'the Fabled Truths is just a collection of pretty little stories designed to entertain each generation of Ashmar, you know that right? You're supposed to coo over them as a child and write your own as a parent. That's how it works.'

'They're not just pretty little stories,' Catilin pouted. 'They're called _truths_ for a reason, every Ashmar knows that.'

'You're not every Ashmar Catilin,' Cayoon placed a hand on her shoulder. 'Now what do you say we go get some lunch, huh?'

'Uh-uh,' Catilin shook her head, 'not till I find what I'm looking for. I know the story's in here somewhere.'

'What story?' Cayoon took a seat next to her, frowning as she did.

'The one about a storm and a howling wolf,' she flipped through the pages. 'I'm sure I've seen it in here somewhere.'

'Why is it so important? It's just a story.'

'They're not just stories, they're more than that. I told you, I think one or two of my ancestors might have predicted a storm like this and I wanna know what they said about it.'

'Does it matter; it's just a bunch of stories anyway.'

'Why can't you open your mind to this,' Catilin sighed and lifted her gaze to meet with Cayoon's. 'You said yourself this storm is making the inactive part of yourself all tingly, so there has to be more to this rain than normal. There've been a lot of Active Calicaccus in my line and each of them added to this book; things they knew their children or children's children or children's children's children's children would need. This book _is_ full of truths. Truths which have been forgotten or truths which are yet to come. I know somewhere in here there's a least one truth about this storm and I will find it.'

'Catilin,' Cayoon placed a hand on her shoulder again as her voice took on the patronising tone which made Catilin wonder why she bothered with the Odraian Queen to begin with, 'we should go for some lunch. Stories are for bedtime, right now is for food; what do you say?'

'I'm going to bed,' Catilin picked up the book, got up from her chair and made her way out of the room, 'see you Cayoon, you can let yourself out, can't you?'


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

'Hiet braysta,' Catilin grinned at him the second he arrived, 'I thought you'd left for the Temple of Mov already.'

'I will do, soon,' he smiled at her from the doorway, 'I just wanted to make sure everything was okay with you before I left. I know you've been bothered by this storm.'

'It's important,' she glanced towards the window, 'but so is your trip. Declaring Mai your official mate is the step you need to take before you can propose to her.'

'Err...' he found himself blushing, 'yeah, but that's getting a little ahead of things, isn't it? She's only just come to live with me, declaring her my official mate is one thing, but marriage... I think I'm still a little way off of that one, don't you?'

'You were engaged to Ahna,' Catilin blinked at him.

'That was different, I wasn't exactly thinking clearly at the time. Besides Mai's a Standing and currently our laws forbid marriage between our breeds.'

'Mm,' she pulled a face, 'I've been thinking about that. I think when you get back from your trip we should call a Carnitatan and see what the others think about changing that law. Maybe we should let our two peoples vote on it or something. It's not like we didn't all used to think we were Standing, so we know now they're not all bad, right?'

'Right,' Joey leant his head against the doorframe, 'but it doesn't matter how we go about trying to change that law, everyone will know this is about Mai.'

'So? Mai's nice, everybody will love her as much as we do and then they'll have no problem with it.'

'I wish I had your confidence. Or better yet that Mai did. She's worried everyone's going to hate her.'

'How could anyone hate her?'

'Oh believe me, I know how,' a weird smile formed on Joey's lips as he remembered his first encounter with Mai. 'Hey are you okay?' He frowned at her as he suddenly realised she was in bed.

'Yeah, Cayoon was here earlier and this was the only way I could get her to leave.'

'And you wanted her to leave because...?'

'Because she said the Fabled Truths were just a bunch of made up bedtime stories,' Catilin pouted. 'She said I shouldn't be wasting my time with them and I should just go out to lunch with her instead. But the Fabled Truths are more than just stories, you know that too right Veronie? I mean Win's in here and Win's not a fable.'

'I know,' Joey crossed the room and took a seat on the end of her bed. 'But you know because of the way the Fabled Truths have been written you can't take everything it says literally, right?'

'Mm,' Catilin nodded, 'I know. But look what I just found, it wasn't what I was looking for but... look,' she pushed the book towards him.

'The Four Voices,' Joey read aloud. 'The Voice of Mind through blood will pass, knowledge of what's been lost its task. When it finally finds a home, its mind both strong and free to roam, within its walls both good and evil seek a balanced ground on a will so weak. But good and light will win the war and Mind will see what's then in store.'

'The Voice of Heart through lovers' gaze will come and go and come again,' Catilin pulled the book back from him. 'In the place where it finds its rest, love will boost its power best. The Voice of Soul will appear but once, its only home swayed by its youngest wants. Through pain it will grow distant, through love it will grow strong, but still it may hear the sirens song. And if it should pull far away, within its walls evil will learn to play. But love and laughter can conquer youth and a good will and want will seal truth.'

'The Voice of Body, both capable and strong, through great leaders will have been passed along,' Joey took the book back from her. 'Its final home will be all but complete, the new image of what was lost and what we now seek. Four alone they stand all proud and strong, but together they will form one.'

'Win,' Catilin giggled, 'it's talking about Win.'

'You think?' Joey frowned at her.

'I think. I think it's talking about the Win you used to stop the Reganna.'

'If that's true then some of this doesn't make sense,' Joey studied the text again. 'I mean, I know we didn't use our generation's Mind, but...'

'Who else would this be talking about hiet braysta? It has to be Win, doesn't it?'

'Maybe,' Joey closed the book and stared at her for a moment, 'I have to go now Cat, you will be alright without me, won't you?'

'You're not going away forever Veronie, you'll be back soon.'

'I know.'

'I'll be fine and I'll find out about this storm whilst you're gone.'

'You don't need to do that Cat.'

'I know,' she grinned, 'but I want to.'

* * *

'Everything alright with Catilin,' Mai studied Joey carefully the moment he arrived back at the Southern Palace.

'She's amusing herself with the Fabled Truths.'

'The what?'

'It's a group of stories passed down through the Ashmar line, I think she's hoping there'll be something about this storm in one of them.'

'Will there be?' Mai felt more than a little confused.

'Maybe, there's more to the Fabled Truths than most people are willing to admit. But I'm worried she might get a little carried away with it all.'

'Maybe we should postpone this little trip of ours then.'

'I don't think so Mai,' Joey smirked at her, 'you're not getting out of it that easily. Besides, Catilin's given us her blessing to go. Not that we needed it, but... She'll be fine and it's not like we're going to be away for more than a couple of days at the most, right? Then we're back for five before taking a trip to the Temple of Sta.'

'At which point I'll have to go through all this stress again,' Mai rolled her eyes. 'Why can't you be like other boys your age and not need all this pomp and ceremony just to move in with your girlfriend?'

'Because I'm a Lutoni,' Joey folded his arms, 'and the pomp and ceremony just goes with the territory.'

* * *

Mokuba took a deep breath in and lifted his gaze to meet with his brother's. Kaiba had taken his time getting back to his office and it made Mokuba's discomfort about the whole situation grow. For a long time there was silence, then a strange, confused smile flickered on and off Kaiba's face.

'Mokuba what are you doing here?'

'You said you were going to meet me for an early lunch almost two hours ago.'

'My secretary was supposed to call and let you know I was running late.'

'Really?'

'You can ask her yourself if you don't believe me,' Kaiba stepped away from the door, 'you know where her office is.'

'Yeah, I do,' Mokuba flinched at the coldness of his own words, 'just like I know the camera in its still switched on.'

Kaiba was silent for a few moments, before half turning away from Mokuba and folding his arms.

'I had an important potential future associate here this morning, one who wanted his privacy respect.'

An involuntary laugh burst out of Mokuba and he found himself shaking his head. He couldn't believe his brother was lying to him. He didn't expect Kaiba to tell him everything all the time, but he at least expected him not to outright lie like this.

'What's the matter Mokuba?' Kaiba frowned at him.

'Why don't you tell me,' he tried to keep his voice as level as possible.

'I...'

'I saw him.'

'What...?' Kaiba's eyes bulged for a moment and his arms half fell back to his sides.

'I saw this potential important associate of yours coming out of your office with you about fifteen minutes ago.' Mokuba pressed his lips together and lowered his gaze. 'Last I checked Seto, it didn't take that long to go from here to the back exit and back again; so just what the hell is going on?'

'It's... it's not what you think,' Kaiba shook his head.

'How do you know that when I don't even know what I think Seto,' Mokuba's gaze flicked up towards him. 'Don't you trust me?'

'What?' Kaiba looked confused.

'Keeping secrets from me, lying to me, don't you trust me, is that it? Do you think I'd go running to the others about... whatever this is about? Do you think I wouldn't lie for you if you needed me to? That I wouldn't protect whatever it is you're hiding?'

'That's not it.'

'Then what is it? What is it I don't know and why haven't you even tried talking to me about it? Do you think I wouldn't understand or something?' Mokuba didn't realise how hurt he was feeling until that moment. 'Because I'm telling you now, whatever it is won't make the slightest bit of difference to me. You're my brother, there's nothing you can say which will change that.'

'I know that,' Kaiba gritted his teeth, 'but it wasn't myself I was protecting.'

'Does that mean you're not going to tell me what's going on then?'

Kaiba gave a heavy sigh and appeared to study Mokuba for a few moments. It was clear from the look on his face he was debating something and a part of Mokuba wished he could just read his brother's mind.

'I guess I would have to have told you at some point anyway,' Kaiba turned away from him, 'I was just hoping for a little bit more time first. But if I tell you what's going on you have to promise me you won't tell the others, no matter what. It's not our place to say anything to them.'

'I promise,' Mokuba nodded, 'so just what is going on?'


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

'Hi there, you're his Standing, aren't you?' The young woman leant across the kitchen table towards her. 'You're prettier than I thought you would be, but then I'd be disappointed if you weren't. Our sarn should have good taste after all.'

'Let me guess; you're another one of these Temple girls who thinks Jo... Veronie shouldn't be with a Standing, right?' Mai narrowed her gaze on her for a moment.

'Not at all,' the girl shook her head, 'we come from Standings, we shouldn't be so quick to toss that heritage away. After all, who knows if any of us will get to keep this life for long.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Ah...' the girl looked caught out, 'personal issues, I guess I still can't believe all this is really happening. I guess that's why I chose to live here in the Temple and why I'm always helping out in the kitchen. You want me to make you something to eat?'

'Actually an apple would be nice,' Mai eyed up the large basket of fruit, 'that's if you can spare one.'

'Of course,' the girl's short brown hair danced around her face as she laughed, 'the cooking apples are kept in the larder, all of the fruit in here is just to be eaten, here,' she picked up the biggest apple from the top of the basket.

'Thank you,' Mai took it off her. 'You know I think you're the first person I've met here who hasn't treated me like I don't belong.'

'Maybe it's because I know how it feels not to belong,' the girl's face filled with a sad smile. 'I should get going now, I promised someone I'd meet with them before afternoon prayers. Enjoy your apple Mai.'

With that the girl left and Mai found herself breathing a sigh of relief; at least she knew she had one ally in this place. It wasn't a huge confidence boost, but it wasn't enough. Biting into the apple she began to chew it slowly as she realised she hadn't bothered to ask the girl what her name was. A slight amount of guilt filtered through her as she swallowed the bite she was chewing.

Almost as soon as she did her throat and lungs felt like they were on fire. Her whole body attempted to cough and splutter, but it was like her windpipe had been glued shut. She found herself fighting for air as her vision blurred several shades of black and grey. For half a second her mind rang with a strange kind of clarity, then everything dissolved into nothing.

* * *

Téa's first instinct was to call a doctor. Yugi's skin was so pale he could have passed for a ghost and a visible cold sweat clung to his skin as he shivered under his blanket. It was clear he was really, really ill but the second she attempted to reach for her phone he grabbed hold of her arm to stop her.

'Yugi you look like death right now, you really should go to the hospital.'

'I can't,' he shook his head, the motion of it causing him to turn into Joey for a moment then back again, 'the Face of Friendship's powers are out of control.'

'Because you're sick?'

'She thinks it's what's making me sick,' he pulled the blanket tighter round him. 'Do you remember last night when something affected me, Kaiba and Joey at the same time?'

'I remember it turned Kaiba's left eye brown and he disappeared for the rest of the evening,' Téa folded her arms.

'Right, the Involuntary Flip,' Yugi nodded as his image flickered between his own and Duke's for a few moments. 'Well the Face of Friendship thinks whatever caused a disruption to the Pure's powers must have affected hers too. She's already meditating on fixing the problem, but the storm really isn't helping.'

'Is there anything I can do to help?'

'I don't think so,' Yugi shivered and shook his head. 'I tried swapping out with the Pharaoh earlier to try and get some rest, but it didn't work. Whatever's interfering with the Face of Friendship's magic is also blocking his. Or maybe her disrupted magic is blocking his; we're not too sure about that one.'

'Well do you want me to get you anything then? Some food? Something to drink? A few more blankets?'

'Grandpa was sorting me out with a little lunch, but if you wanted to get it from him that would be great.' Yugi smiled weakly at her as his image flickered into Tristan and then back again.

'Doesn't all those changes hurt?' Téa frowned.

'Glamouring is just surface level,' Yugi shook his head, 'truth is I barely notice them happening.'

'But Kaiba's eye...'

'Kaiba's eye changed because of a Flip. A Flip alters your genetic structure; a Glamour just hides who you are. It's like the difference between putting on a mask and... having someone run genetic experiments on you,' he gave a strange laugh. 'I guess there's no equivalent to the Flip really, but Glamouring really is like putting on a mask.'

'Well that's something then,' Téa sighed in relief. 'I'll go get your lunch, you wait here.'

'Right now I don't think I have the strength to move anywhere,' he pulled the blanket tighter around himself again.

'Okay, I'll be right back.'

* * *

Mokuba buried his face in his hands and tried to figure out just what the hell he was supposed to do or say next. It all felt too much for him to deal with all in one go; so many questions answered only to be replaced by so many more.

'Mokuba...'

'Why?' Mokuba cut off whatever his brother was about to say. 'I mean, I get that it wasn't your place to say anything, but why have you been helping him? I thought you considered friends to be nothing more than a waste of time, so... so how did you know he was in trouble to begin with and why have you been helping him?'

'The Pure,' Kaiba's voice was strangely mute.

'Is that the only explanation you're going to give me?'

'It's the only one I have,' he averted his gaze. 'Somehow she was able to sense that he was in trouble and she didn't exactly give me a choice in the matter.'

'I see,' Mokuba lowered his gaze, 'I guess that makes sense. I mean, the Mistresses consider him to be important for some reason, right?'

'Right,' Kaiba nodded before folding his arms. 'She can be pretty... persuasive when she wants to be and she had no problem using you as leverage.'

'What do you mean?'

'I may consider friends a waste of time, but you don't,' he shrugged. 'She simply pointed out that if anything were to happen to him you would be pretty hurt by it and I wouldn't want that.'

'So you helped him for my sake?'

'And hers, but that's it. I don't care what happens to him.'

There was something almost forced sounding about his final statement which made Mokuba wonder if maybe his brother did care more than he realised. The Pure might have been the one making sure he was okay, but Kaiba was the one having to deal with him. It was more than possible the two of them had formed a weird kind of friendship somehow.

'So... is he back home now?'

'No,' Kaiba shook his head, 'he can't face his parents, not at the moment anyway. He's afraid of what they might think.'

'So where is he staying?'

'Currently in a hotel in the city,' Kaiba flicked his gaze towards Mokuba. 'But being back in Domino has had more of an effect on him than I would have liked. I'm worried about what he might do.'

'Are you about to ask what I think you're about to ask?' A strange feeling shifted through Mokuba.

'It'll just be short term, until he's ready to face his parents.' Kaiba's tone was level and calm. 'I thought it might come to this at some point, which is why I knew there was a possibility I might have to talk to you about all this eventually. But I was kind of hoping I wouldn't have to.'

'For his sake or for yours?' Mokuba held his brother's gaze.

Kaiba didn't reply and for a long couple of minutes silence wrapt its way around the room.

'Okay,' Mokuba broke the silence.

'Okay?'

'Okay, you're right, I don't want anything bad to happen to him,' Mokuba pressed his lips together. 'So okay.'

* * *

'Don't give me that look, I'm not being paranoid, one of those girls did something to her and I want to know who and why?' Joey glared at the brown haired lad.

'But I really don't think it was any of them. They wouldn't. They couldn't. There has to be some other explanation for what happened.'

'There isn't,' Joey shook his head, 'someone's trying to hurt Mai and I want to know who and why and I want to know now,' he balled his hands into fists.

He knew he had every right to feel angry about this, but this level of anger was scary even to him. It felt like it was coming from somewhere deep inside of him. Somewhere he didn't even know existed. It filled him with a level of turmoil and confusion he didn't even know he was capable of and to make matters worse the voices at the back of his head were feeling it just as much as he was. That could only mean one thing, the First felt it too. And if she was feeling this way then there definitely had to be some kind of real threat against Mai.

'But mai sarn, I know these girls, I trust these girls, even if they were jealous of Mai for some reason none of them would take things this far. No one here would take things this far, you've got to believe me.'

'What other explanation is there for Mai's condition right now?'

'I...' he shook his head, 'I'm sorry mai sarn, I wish I could offer you an explanation but...'

'What's your name?'

'Covo,' he gave a nervous cough, 'Macar Covo.'

'And is there anyone here you care about?'

'There are a couple of people here I care about,' he nodded, 'and I wouldn't want to see anything bad happen to either of them, but I also don't think either of them would be capable of doing something like this.'

'Do either of them work in the kitchen?' Joey narrowed his gaze on Covo.

'One of them does, but I know her and she definitely wouldn't have done something like this. She couldn't have.'

'How can you be so sure about someone you've only known for less than a year?'

'I've known her longer than that,' Covo instantly flinched and hesitated at his own words. 'I mean, I was fortunate enough to have known her before we came here. That's why I can be so certain this has nothing to do with her.'

'Humph,' Joey folded his arms, 'well just remember no one's above suspicion. Question everybody, find out who the last person to see or talk to Mai was and confine them to their room until I have a chance to question them myself.'

'You can't be serious? Since when were people guilty before proven innocent?'

'Since somebody tried to kill my mate,' there was a greater level of venomous anger in his voice than he intended. 'Now do as I've asked or do I have to lock you up and question you as well.'

'No mai sarn,' Covo slowly backed away from him, 'I'll get on it right away.'

* * *

For a few minutes Kaiba was on his own. His brother had been satisfied enough with their conversation to go on ahead to the restaurant where they would be having lunch whilst Kaiba stayed behind under the pretext of making contact with _him_. Truth was he just needed a few minutes on his own to come back down from the conversation they'd been having. Kaiba was surprised just how much it had affected him and he was starting to question how exactly he'd ended up in this situation to begin with.

He lowered himself into his chair and turned to face the window. No sooner than he had the kid appeared, his arms folded as he leant back against the window.

'I thought I warned you against using the Pure's powers to manipulate your brother.'

'I didn't use the Pure's powers to manipulate him,' Kaiba glared at the kid, 'for a start I can't access her powers right now. Hell, she can't access her powers right now.'

'You know that's her fault, right? That little stunt she pulled last night. We already had a plan in place to keep the other two distracted, why'd she have to interfere like that.'

'Because she doesn't trust you and I'm not totally sure I do either.'

'She's just gone and made things more complicated, not to mention made you a lot more susceptible to falling under her influence. Don't think I can't tell you're wearing a coloured contact right now,' he lowered his head slightly. 'You can't let her take control and you can't let her manipulate your brother.'

'What makes you think I was manipulating my brother?' Kaiba folded his arms. 'All I did was talk to him as honestly as I could without giving anything away. Last I checked that wasn't manipulation. My brother is smart and reasonable and clearly a lot more capable of making his own mind up about situations than you're giving him credit for.'

'Your brother is a murderous monster who doesn't have a reasonable bone in his entire body,' the kid gritted his teeth.

'I'm sorry; clearly we're both talking about very different people here.'

'How I wish that was true,' the kid's voice was filled with disgust, 'but in the world I come from your brother hurt a lot of people I care about. No one knows for sure what exactly pushed him over the edge, but we all know the Pure's influence over you and her attempts at manipulating him didn't help. So you'd better tread carefully Kaiba, because I've not gone to all this trouble for that gutless monster not to win in the end.'


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

'Hey,' Duke frowned as he leant his way into Yugi's room, 'your Grandpa let me it, said you weren't feeling too great and from the looks of it he's right.'

'Yugi thinks it has something to do with that weirdness last night,' Téa answered before Yugi had a chance to. 'It's affecting the Face of Friendship's powers too.'

'About that... the weirdness from last night I mean... don't you think it's a little odd something like that happens right after Tristan shows up again,' Duke folded his arms. 'I mean, first there's this never ending storm, then Yugi, Kaiba and Joey all have some weird kind of episode and now this.'

'Are you saying you think Tristan has something to do with it?'

'Well he did give me the envelope with the warning something might happen to him. I think he knew there was a chance because he's up to something. I'd actually come here to see if you guys wanted to come with me to Tristan's parents.'

'Do they even know he's back yet?' Téa frowned.

'I'm not sure, but there's only one way to find out, right?'

'Won't Tristan get really mad at us if we let his parents know he's back before he's ready?'

'Right now Téa I'm not sure I really care. I mean, I get this strong feeling like we need to do this, because if we don't...' he hesitated. 'Let's just say I'd rather something didn't happen to Tristan.'

'I think we'd all rather that,' Téa sighed. 'Alright, I'm in, that's if Yugi doesn't mind being left on his own for a while.'

'It's fine,' Yugi smiled weakly at her, 'I could do with trying to get some sleep now anyway.'

'Just give me a call if you need me, okay?' Téa nodded at him as she followed Duke out of the room.

'I will, just as long as you make sure you let me know what's going on with Tristan as soon as you find out anything.'

'Oh don't worry about that, we will.'

* * *

She hummed a random collection of notes as she tried to ignore just how volatile the storm outside was getting. It wasn't the easiest task in the world and no matter how much she buried herself under her blanket she couldn't block out the cold shivers it was giving her. There really had never been a storm like this before and she still couldn't find the prediction about it in the book. She had found other things though; useful things which made her think maybe the book was guiding her to do something.

But what could she do? She had no active powers anymore and other than being able to sense things she really wasn't much good to anybody, so how...?

'You know Octan watched the first Fabled Truth being written,' his voice made her start and pull the blanket back down from over her head.

'You shouldn't be here,' she started at him.

'I know and SK will probably kill me if he finds out, but I still know how to work the loopholes up there. And what's more I still know how to do it without using any of my own power,' he grinned, 'brilliant or what?'

'You shouldn't be here,' she repeated, 'we could get into lots of trouble.'

'I think we might already be in a lot of trouble,' he turned his gaze towards the storm. 'The spirits were restless for a reason, remember? And I think this storm might have something to do with it.'

'The spirits were restless because they wanted to change the ending of their story,' she shook her head.

'A story which they hinted was already starting to repeat itself.'

'Because everyone was born again.'

'Maybe,' he folded his arms, 'I mean, I know that's what we thought at the time, but what if we were wrong?'

'What would it mean then?' She frowned at him.

'I think it might have something to do with our little secret. And I think if we play this situation right we might be able to redeem ourselves in the eyes of the Mistresses.'

'What do you mean?'

'We're being punished for giving into evil, right? Well if we prove we're good beyond reproach then maybe they'll reverse our punishment.'

'But we did bad, we deserve this,' she lowered her gaze. 'And what if being like this is the only thing stopping us from being bad again?'

'I don't believe that it is and neither should you.'

'I don't know... I think we're in more than enough trouble as it is.'

'Is that why you've spent hours poring over the Fabled Truths?' He smirked at her. 'Because you believe we're in too much trouble to do anything to help? Because someone who thinks we're in too much trouble to help wouldn't go to so much trouble to find a way of helping. You know I'm right about this.'

'The storm is important Jay, but what if you're wrong? What if trying to help makes things worse? I don't want things to be worse Jay.'

'Then trust me; trust that I know how to make things better.'

'And if you don't?'

'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But right now I need to get back before SK notices I'm down here,' he sighed. 'Just think about what I've said, okay?'

'I'll think about it,' she nodded, 'but I still think it's too much trouble and I really don't want more trouble.'

* * *

'I feel kind of bad talking to his parents like that,' Téa sighed as they ducked into a bus shelter to get out of the rain for a few minutes. 'I feel like I've betrayed his trust somehow. I mean, did you see how cut up his Mum looked when she realised he hadn't even bothered to tell them he was back.'

'We both agreed Tristan's been acting more than a little weird,' Duke fingered the enveloped hidden inside his jacket.

'Any weirder than he was before he left? I feel like I should be working on what the hell I'm going to say to Tristan the next time I see him. Honestly I kind of feel like grovelling right about now.'

'I think that's the last thing he would want,' Duke lowered his head. 'I got to know this new Tristan really well whilst I was recovering from the Boy's affect on me. I don't remember much about what he was like before, but I know a lot about what he's like now. The last thing he'd want is for us to apologise to him for this. Yeah, okay he's going to be really, really pissed off about it, but he'll get over that. If anything he'll respect us for making a tough choice and following through with it. Apologising will do nothing but suggest we're ashamed of our decision, that we thought we had no right to do it. Think about it, when was the last time Tristan apologised for the way he acts now?'

'I guess you have a point,' Téa pulled a face, 'but it still doesn't feel right.'

'It's not meant to, but until we figure out what's going on with Tristan we really don't have a choice.'

'We should report this back to Yugi,' Téa stared out into the rain, 'after all his place is closer than either of ours.'

'That's not the only reason you want to get back there though, is it? You're worried about him too.' Duke turned his own gaze towards the rain. 'Kaiba and Joey don't seem to be anywhere near as affected by the Mistresses as Yugi is.'

'I'm not so sure about that, remember the headaches Joey gets and how ill he was the first couple of months.'

'That's because he was fighting her back then. Yugi's not fighting the Face of Friendship; he's suffering because she's turned him into an empath.'

'I know,' Téa lowered her gaze, 'but what can we do. She's a part of him now whether we want her to be there or not.'

'I never said I didn't want her to be there,' Duke shot her a look. 'I get why the Mistresses had to do what they did, I just don't understand why Yugi's the one really suffering for it when the other two claim they don't even have access to their Mistresses' powers.'

'You say that as though you're not sure you believe it,' Téa eyed him up for a moment, 'or like you're hinting at something else.'

'Well... I have been thinking it's a little strange.'

'What is?'

'That Yugi gets turned into an empath and the other two don't get access to their Mistresses' powers. There's something not quite right about that idea.'

'You think Joey would lie to us?'

'I think with all the power of his own Joey's had to get used to he's not even tried to access the First's, but Kaiba...'

'You're thinking about what Joey said last night, aren't you? When Kaiba's eye turned brown.' Téa frowned.

'I think Kaiba would have at least tried to find out if he can, I mean why wouldn't he?'

'I don't know, maybe because of what happened when they became the Mistresses.'

'But we don't even know that much about what happened, remember?' Duke sighed. 'All they would say was that it involved a great darkness and that it resulted in Tristan needing some alone time; sketchy details at best.'

'So you think Kaiba knows how to use the Pure's powers?' Téa stared at him.

'Bizarrely it's not the only thing I think right now, but if I tell you what else is on my mind you might think I've completely lost it.'

'If I'm being honest with you Duke I already think you've completely lost it, but right now I'm more concerned with getting back to Yugi.'

'Agreed,' Duke nodded, 'I just wish there would be a break in this rain, it's so depressing.'

'I don't see why everyone's getting so bent out of shape about it,' Téa stuck her hand out of the bus shelter for a moment, 'it's just rain.'


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The second Covo heard the commotion he found himself sprinting down the corridor towards it. To his horror he found several of the boys he'd asked to help him with his investigation forcing someone into one of the sleeping chambers. When he saw who it was his heart began to pound hard in his chest with a mixture of confusion and fury.

'What the hell do you think you're doing?' Covo tried to pull the boys off of her.

'We're doing what you and our sarn told us to do,' one of the boy's turned his gaze towards Covo for a moment, 'we're putting the prime suspect under house arrest.'

'The prime suspect?' His fury gave way, doubling the feeling of confusion he was having.

'According to all reports she was the last person to see the Standing before she passed out.'

'Is that true?' Covo turned his gaze towards the accused.

'I... I guess it is,' she stammered, 'but you know I would never do anything to hurt her, don't you Macar?'

'You said our sarn wanted the last person to see his Standing conscious to be locked in their chambers until he has a chance to question them,' the boy cut off any reply Covo might have given. 'We're just following orders. Orders you gave.'

'I know,' Covo gripped at his hair. 'I'm sorry,' he flicked his gaze towards the accused, 'but they're right, those were the orders which were given.'

'But Macar...' she gawked at him, 'you can't do this to me.'

'I don't have a choice. But don't worry; I know you didn't do this. You just have to sit tight until I can prove it, okay?'

'Okay,' she nodded, 'I guess I have no choice. But please prove my innocence quickly Macar.'

'I will, don't worry,' he took a step towards her, then hesitated. 'You'll be okay Korin, no matter what I promise you'll be okay.'

* * *

'What are you doing?' The other guy caught hold of the hand he was using to paint with and forced him to meet his gaze.

'We're running out of time before this storm reaches its full potential, I'm just making sure we're ready for it when it does.'

'So we're still moving ahead with _his_ plan then?'

'You have your doubts?'

'Don't you?'

There were a few moments of silence, before he pulled his arm away and stared down at the small pot of midnight blue paint.

'I didn't realise just how much potential this storm was going to have till it hit,' he tightened his grip on the paintbrush. 'The kid made it sound like we were being impatient, like the storm wasn't the only time this could happen, but I think he's wrong. I think it needs to happen now.'

'I agree,' his companion lowered his head, 'the only problem with that is that it means following _their_ plan, which means we'll be more vulnerable to _their_ influence.'

'In case you hadn't noticed, we are already,' he shot him a look.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'The storms weakened the barriers or hadn't you noticed,' some instinct made him place his hand on the side of his companions face.

For a few long moments the silence returned, during which their eyes remained locked.

'I've got paint on you, I'm sorry,' he pulled his hand away the second he noticed.

'It doesn't matter,' the other boy shrugged and turned away. 'We need to figure out how we're going to work their plan, especially since...'

'You can leave that side of things up to me, at least for now. You need to worry about making sure the kid doesn't figure out we're no longer playing things by his rules, so here,' he handed over the paintbrush and pot of paint, 'you finish this.'

'But I don't...'

'The symbols you need are in that book over there,' he pointed.

'That's the one the kid leant you, right?'

'Right. It makes for some pretty interesting reading too, so maybe once you're done with the symbols...'

'Whatever,' he made his way towards it, 'just make sure the kid doesn't catch you, okay?'

'I won't.'

'And make sure you don't stay out too long.'

'Huh?' He glanced back towards his companion. 'You're not worried about me, are you?'

'It's not you I'm worried about,' his eyes made a less than subtle sideways motion.

'I'd wished you'd told him something else... anything else, I know you had to convince him this was a good idea, but...'

'You wish I'd used something other than the truth?'

'It's not even the whole truth,' he shook his head as he made his way towards the door, 'just the bad bit.'

'Well I couldn't justify a complete lie.'

'Funny, because I'm not sure I can justify the truth.'

* * *

It was late, but Mokuba couldn't sleep until he was sure both of them were back in the mansion. After what his brother had told him he wasn't completely sure how to act around the other boy and a part of him was afraid that might have caused him to bulk. Or worse. Mokuba squeezed his eyes shut and began to pray; not that he was really sure who or what he was praying to anymore. All he knew was that if the other boy didn't come back safely he would blame himself for it.

The murmured sound of two familiar voices penetrated the door to his bedroom. For half a second it made his heart race and lurch at the same time. Then everything settled and he found himself getting out of bed and sneaking towards the door. He opened it just enough to peak out into the hallway down towards where the pair of them were standing. Their voices were as low as their heads were closed together. Even though Mokuba couldn't make out a word they were saying, something in their body language said a lot more than he believed they meant it too.

Mokuba watched as his brother pulled back and made his way towards his bedroom. The other boy took something out of his pocket and began squeezing it. After a moment he threw it against the wall opposite to where he was standing and caught it as it bounced back towards him. He did this a few more times before sinking into a sitting position. The object he was throwing then continued to make a steady rhythm against the wall as he repeatedly bounced it against it. The rhythm was enough to make Mokuba yawn deeply and make his way back towards his bed. Things were definitely going to be weird, but they weren't anywhere near as fragile as he feared. The only question now was whether or not he told Yugi and the others about his brother's house guest.

The thought made Mokuba's heart lurch again; he'd made a deliberate point of not thinking about the guy as being his brother's house guest. It felt weird to do it now, but at the same time he couldn't deny that's what was going on here. He shuddered and buried himself deep under his blanket; all these confusing thoughts could wait till morning, what he needed more than anything right now was sleep.

* * *

Joey couldn't take his eyes off of her; everything in him feared what might happen next if he did. Inside he could feel his heart pulling with pain. It hurt... it hurt so much to see her this way. At that back of his head the voices stirred, they'd been doing that a lot today and every time they did it made him feel even worse about the situation.

'Veronie I need you to listen to me,' the voices pulled together for a moment.

'Not now First,' he kept his voice soft as he fixed his attention on Mai.

'But it's important. Something's very wrong...'

'Of course something's wrong; don't you see what someone has done to Mai?'

'I can see what you can see Veronie, but that's not what I was talking about. Something's wrong with my powers. Whatever disruption caused Kaiba's eye to Flip last night has affected us too, can't you see that? Your paranoia, your feeling of uselessness, the uncontrollable emotions you've been feeling all day, these are things I go through when my power has been disrupted.'

'So?'

'You say that as thought this isn't a problem Veronie.'

'It's not affected my powers, has it?'

'No, but...'

'Then it's not my problem First, it's yours. Right now I have to concentrate on Mai.'

'And now you're just proven my point; your powers might not have been affected, but you have.'

'I told you I don't care right now First; leave me alone.'

'Veronie...'

'Leave me alone First,' Joey pressed his hands against his ears in a vain attempt to block her out, 'just leave me alone.'

* * *

Mai wasn't sure how she'd ended up here, where here was or even how long she'd been there for. All she knew was one minute she was struggling to breathe and the next she was in this beautiful but surreal little garden, sitting under a strangely vibrant weeping willow whilst a river filled with tropical fish flowed past her. There was something tranquil and calming about the place which lulled Mai into this odd little trance. It was why, even though she was curious as to how she ended up here, she didn't ask any questions.

After an indefinite amount of time an elegant young woman appeared and took a seat next to Mai. The woman's hair was a rich chocolate brown and her eyes the brightest green Mai had ever seen. She was dressed in a lose tunic style dress, woven with flowers, leaves and vines which fell so neatly around her it was impossible to picture anyone else able to pull it off.

'I can sense you have many questions Mai,' the woman turned her gaze towards her. 'I can sense them because I have inherited that gift from my mother.'

'Your mother?' Mai frowned.

'The Second Mistress.'

'Who?'

'You know her as the Face of Friendship,' the woman turned her gaze towards the river, 'but her true name is the Second Mistress. The Face of Friendship is a pet name given to her by her sisters which, for right or wrong, stuck. She is the kindest and most generous being I know and I am proud of any likeness we share.'

'Like your ability to sense I have many questions because you're an empath?' Mai studied her for a moment.

'My gift is not as strong or as sensitive as hers is, but I am an empath none the less and I've always prided myself on being able to read people well. Or at least I thought I could.'

'You're not so sure anymore?'

'I believe I have been tricked by a being who may well be even more powerful than even he claims,' the woman flicked her gaze back towards Mai. 'He told me I needed to bring you here in order to protect you, but I think in truth he just wanted to distract me.'

'Distract you from what?'

'The storm,' the words sounded strangely thoughtful, 'its important somehow, everyone can feel it. Something's coming; something powerful and I think the one who tricked me knows what it is.'

'Does that mean he's found a way to distract the other gods too?'

'No, just me.'

'But why just you,' Mai frowned, 'I mean... not trying to offend you in anyway but... why just distract the Goddess of Earth?'

'Because I'm the only one who shares responsibilities with Liekta Arrena.'

'Who?'

'The Lady of Life,' the woman pressed her lips together, 'it is Arrena's job to record and monitor all births, but it is my responsibility to make sure those births take place when they are supposed to. The date of somebody's birth may not always make sense, but everyone is born how and when they are born for a reason.'

'Do you think this guy wants to stop a birth or something?'

'Not stop,' she shook her head, 'just delay. You can't stop a person from being born but you can change the circumstances of their birth. Or rather, I can change the circumstances of their birth. It is my belief this trickster wants me distracted in order to force me to change the circumstances somehow. But if it is the birth I think it is then nothing can stop it. I've known this child was coming for a long time and I have kept the knowledge to myself to keep them safe from those who would wish to change their destiny, including my own family.'

'So if you know his plan will fail, why do you feel so bad about being tricked by him?' Mai frowned.

'It's hard to trick an empath Mai,' she focused her gaze on her, 'whoever this trickster is they're powerful and their uncertain morality could prove to be a major problem.'

* * *

A cold sweat clung to his body as he shot up in bed. The nightmare again? How could it be the nightmare again? He thought he was done with it. Or rather he thought... With his heart pounding hard in his chest he jumped out of bed and rapidly made his way out of his room to the one two doors down. Without knocking he opened the door and stared in at the empty bed.

'Damnit,' he gritted his teeth and pulled himself back out into the hallway.

For the longest second of his life he found himself staring up at the ceiling. Instinct told him exactly where he needed to go, but somehow he needed to will up the courage and strength to face this again. Taking a deep breath in he forced himself forward, up through the house and out onto the roof. The rain was beating down so hard it visibly bounced off of the flat rooftop around him, but he barely even noticed.

'I thought we'd talked about this,' he focused his gaze on the other boy as he moved towards him. 'I thought you were over this.'

'I thought I was too,' the other boy kept his eyes on the horizon. 'Don't worry, I wasn't going to, I just... needed to remind myself I could.'

'Well don't,' he grabbed hold of his arm and forced him to turn round. 'I can't do this without you.'

'I know, the plan...'

'I'm not talking about the plan,' the level of his own emotions shocked him so much he couldn't be sure whether or not they were really his or...

'Then what are you talking about, because we both know you...'

'Shut up,' he found himself willing the presence at the back of his head to take over as he cupped the other boy's face in his hands, 'you have no idea what I'm feeling right now.'

'If only that were true,' the other boy brushed some of the damp locks back from his face. 'But we can't do this. We can't give into them.'

'It's too late,' he felt his own consciousness falling backwards, 'I already have.'


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

'We need to warn Joey and the others,' Mai bit her lip, 'if you're right about this guy Mov, then...'

'I know, but it's not that simple. There are a lot of forces at work here, forces which were set into motion a long time ago.'

'What do you mean?'

'I told you before Mai, I've been waiting a long time for this child to be born. I've known what circumstances must occur for its birth to be possible, just like I've known which circumstances must surround their birth. This child must be born in a particular way at a particular time if its full potential is to be realised. But not just the child's full potential; the fate of so many others rests on how and when this child is born. By trying to change these circumstances the trickster is risking the multiverse itself.'

'How do you know all this?'

'Another gift I inherited from my mother,' Mov sighed, 'the power of foresight, only I'm much more capable with it than she is. I remember the things I've foreseen whereas she does not.'

'Okay... but what does any of this have to do with me telling Joey and the others?'

'Everything Mai,' a strange smile appeared on Mov's face, 'the story which is to repeat itself has already begun.'

'Wait, are you talking about the story the restless spirits were telling?' Mai frowned.

'Yes, the story they knew would repeat itself. The one they wanted to change.'

'But Catilin's not pregnant,' she shook her head, 'or if she is then she's hiding it really well.'

'I believe their words were, the story's the same but the details are different,' Mov gave a strange little laugh. 'The parentage of the child is not important. The fact that the father is unaware is.'

'So someone out there is keeping their pregnancy a secret?' Mai gave a slow series of nods. 'And we have to find them before they give birth and make sure this guy doesn't stop the child from being born when it's supposed to?'

'The child is not your concern,' Mov shook her head, 'the fates which have been in motion since its conception have already put in place a plan to make sure the circumstances of this child's birth are correct.'

'Okay, then I'm confused,' Mai frowned, 'if there's nothing I can do to change what's happening and warning Joey and the others about this trickster isn't really going to make a difference to anything, then why are you telling me all this?'

Mov silently studied her for a few long moments. Mai felt herself squirm more than a little as she realised just how informally she'd been speaking to the goddess. A part of her feared some kind of karmic retribution was about to come crashing down on her for thinking she had the right to question a being of Mov's power like this. But the calm and almost serene expression the goddess continued to wear slowly started to settle the fearful butterflies beating inside of Mai.

'Whether this trickster succeeds in his plan or not, this child will be born one way or another; there is nothing which can stop that now. However the circumstances of the birth of this child affects the fates of others.'

'You said that before.'

'I know,' Mov turned her gaze towards the river, 'what I did not tell you is that some of those whose fate will be determined by when this child is born have not even been conceived yet and some may have only just been. If this child is not born when it is meant to be born then these future lives may not come into being.'

'Do you think he knows that?'

'I think he's arrogant enough to believe he can fix any problems he creates,' Mov sighed. 'I think his intentions are good, but... I get this feeling like he's trying to strike at the wrong time.'

'What do you mean?'

'The future of your Realm is not as clear as it should be; it's as though the future is trying to alter itself. I believe this trickster is the reason, but I believe he is trying to change the wrong circumstances. The timing of someone's birth is much harder to change than the circumstances of someone's death. It is rare for a person's death to be a fixed point, because the fate of an individual changes all the time. But a person will always be born how and when they are meant to be, because I make sure of it.'

'I don't...'

'I believe if the trickster fails now he will try again to change things. If they are meant to be changed then he will succeed, but I fear the chaos which it may cause. This being may have good intentions, but he is powerful enough to be a danger to all of you. His methods now prove that. I strongly believe he cares only about the ends and not the means. Be careful. Be watchful. And no matter what be safe.'

* * *

'Ugh, I don't know how people can eat burgers this early in the morning,' Téa eyed up the greasy contents of Duke's plate, 'give me some toast or fruit or cereal or anything else any day of the week.'

'Well you were the one who insisted on meeting this early,' Duke tucked into his breakfast.

'Yeah, but you were the one who insisted on coming to Burger World,' Téa turned her noise up.

'Well some of us didn't have time for breakfast this morning, because some of us didn't know they were going to be dragged out of bed so early.'

'Yeah, well I got tired of pretending to sleep,' Téa sighed, 'and with Yugi still sick and Joey on some Temple trip I didn't know who else I could talk to this early.'

'So I wasn't even you second choice,' Duke rolled his eyes.

'It's not like that, it's just... I want to know what happened to them before Tristan left,' she sighed. 'I know they gave us a handful of details, but I get the feeling they left out some pretty major ones, including the one which might explain why Tristan's come back even more moody and weird than he was before he left. I mean, the Tristan I know wouldn't make his parents worry like this.'

'The Tristan you know left a long time ago,' Duke lowered his gaze, 'and I don't mean physically either.'

'I know, but... whatever it is they're keeping from us about that situation is just making things harder.'

'For who exactly?'

'For them, obviously,' she pulled a face, 'so if Joey and Yugi won't tell us about it, then we'll have to ask someone else who was there.'

'You mean someone like Kaiba?'

'I was thinking Mokuba actually, what do you think?'

'I think there's a reason they're not giving us any more details than the ones we have and it might be a good idea to leave it well enough alone.'

'So you would rather we didn't get the old Tristan back?' Téa half glared at him.

'I don't think the point here is to get the old Tristan back. I think we have to learn to accept the new Tristan and hope we can still be friends.'

'And just how do you expect us to do that if we don't have all the facts?'

'I...?'

'Then its settled,' Téa grinned, 'we're talking to Mokuba.'

* * *

Mokuba shivered and tried to figure out why he thought this would be a good place to meet. It was cold and the rain hadn't let up now for days. On top of that the bus shelter he was in provided very little protection from the elements. Still it was better to meet them here and find out what they wanted rather than risk them spotting his brother's house guest. Mokuba found himself once again wincing at the thought, right up until the point an even more uncomfortable one hit him; what if the others already knew?

'Hey Mokuba,' Téa grinned at him as she and Duke ducked into the shelter, 'how are you?'

'Wishing I'd asked to meet at Duke's game shop,' Mokuba stared out into the rain. 'I don't know why I thought meeting here would be a good idea.'

'Yeah, we were wondering about that,' Duke tilted his head in thought.

'I guess I just felt I needed to be somewhere where no one could overhear our conversation,' Mokuba sighed. 'It's just this weird sense I get... ever since the rain started... I keep feeling... I don't know, like I can tell when there's more to a situation than other people realise or something. I noticed it yesterday when... when I overheard some people talking.' He gave a nervous cough. 'I don't know; it's probably nothing, but... I felt it again when I was on the phone to Téa earlier. It's like I knew the conversation you wanted to have would be best kept between the three of us or something. Maybe I'm way off mark here, but...'

'Maybe it really is the rain,' Téa frowned.

'What?'

'Yugi says the rain magnifies everything,' she shrugged, 'I don't really get it, but everyone has been acting weird since this weather set in.'

'Does that include you?' Duke eyed her up suspiciously.

'Maybe I have been a little more... focused than normal, but... If we're going to lose Tristan forever I'd rather go down fighting.'

'Lose Tristan forever,' Mokuba choked out the words, 'what...?'

'She's being overdramatic,' Duke shook his head.

'No I'm not, we're losing him as a friend and I don't want that.' Téa folded her arms.

'Oh, that's what you meant,' Mokuba breathed a sigh of relief.

'Of course that's what I meant,' she raised an eyebrow at him, 'what did you think I meant?'

'Err... I don't know, maybe you were worried he was going to run away for good or something,' Mokuba averted his gaze.

'Yeah, well I am worried about that too. I mean, his parents still don't know he's back.'

'Well they didn't know, they do now,' Duke perched himself on the shelters bench.

'What do you mean they do now?' Mokuba felt his heart pound against his ribcage.

'We told them, yesterday,' Téa shrugged, 'we were kind of hoping he'd been to see them. They were so hurt when they realised...'

'Maybe he just couldn't face them yet,' Mokuba cut off the rest of her sentence, 'you ever think of that? Maybe he went through some stuff whilst he was away and it's taking him a while to get over it. Maybe you telling his parents before he was ready is going to cause him to relapse of something and then he'll go and do something stupid and we really will never see him again.'

'And I thought I was paranoid,' Téa stared at him. 'Okay, so maybe he has been going through some stuff whilst he was away, but the worst he's going to do when he finds out we told his parents he was back is get really moody and stroppy with the two of us for a bit. It won't be the one thing which will cause him to runaway again.'

'I wasn't...' Mokuba stopped himself, 'sorry I just... I mean...'

'I think this rain just has everybody on edge,' Duke rolled his eyes. 'Téa's right, Tristan will just be really pissed off about this, but maybe it'll be the push he needs to actually talk to them again. They're worried about him; they just want him to come home.'

'Yeah,' Mokuba lowered his gaze, 'I can understand that. So what is it you guys wanted to talk to me about?'

'We want to understand what exactly it is Tristan's been dealing with,' Téa focused her gaze on Mokuba.

'And you think I know because...?'

'You were there during that incident three months ago, right?'

'Yeah, but I think whatever it was he went away to deal with started before then,' he met her gaze. 'I mean, issues deep enough to... to make you take off like he did don't just appear overnight.'

'We know that, but whatever happened three months ago was the final straw and you know it. So what happened exactly?'

'I can't,' Mokuba shook his head. 'There's too much... I mean, people could... I... I think its best you don't know any more details than you already do. You don't want to risk pushing Tristan over the edge.'

'Pushing Tristan over the edge?'

'You know, make him runaway again,' Mokuba shifted his gaze away. 'Look, I just don't think you should push this right now.'

'Since I wasn't too happy about doing this in the first place I'm going to agree with Mokuba on this one,' Duke shot Téa a look. 'But I do think we should try tracking Tristan down, I would much rather we were the ones to tell him his parents know he's back. It might reduce the damage a little.'

'Right and just how are we supposed to find him when we don't have a clue as to where he's staying or anything,' Téa rolled her eyes.

Mokuba went to say something, hesitated, then forced the words out anyway. He knew his brother would hate him for it, but he would hate himself more if he didn't. After all Duke was right; if Tristan heard their mistake from them it might cushion the blow a little.

'I know where he is.'

'What?' Duke frowned at him.

'I know where he is,' Mokuba repeated, 'I know where Tristan is.'


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

His gaze flicked between them the second they entered the room. Without either one of them saying a word he could tell not only they were trying to hide something from him, but exactly what it was they were hiding.

'Why? Why do you two consistently think their plan will work better than mine?'

'It's not the plan, it's the timing. This needs to happen now. This storm...'

'This is ridicules, my plan is solid and you don't have to lose anything to follow it.'

'Whatever we have to give up is a small price to pay for what we'll gain. We can't afford to lose all this potential. If this doesn't happen now then it won't matter what we do either way, the potential will have been lost and so will any hope we have of changing everything.'

'You don't know that.'

'Don't we? There has never been a storm like this and there will never be one like this again, we all know it. Whatever bad thing it is you're supposed to change CL, this is not it. From here on out we're working to their plan.'

'No, I don't believe this. I factored in everything thing this time. How... how can I have failed again?'

'Because some things are just supposed to happen the way they're meant to happen no matter what anyone tries to do about it. This is meant to happen now and there's nothing you can do to change it.'

'Fine,' he spat out the word, 'I mean fine,' he repeated more calmly, 'but you've not seen the last of me. If there's nothing I can do to stop the birth, then I'll do everything in my power to stop the death.'

* * *

'Well this is one place I never thought I'd be looking for Tristan.' Duke smirked as they step out of the lift. 'Do you think Mokuba's trying to wind us up or something?'

'He seemed pretty serious to me,' Téa shrugged, 'and I don't see what he would gain from lying about something like this.'

'That's true,' Duke pulled a face, 'but now that we're here I'm not sure this is a very good idea. I mean, if it's true we're going to be dealing with two very pissed off people and if its not...'

'It's not like he doesn't already hate us right?' Téa sighed. 'What's a little more animosity between acquaintances?'

'For someone who's always talking about the almighty power of friendship you're being awfully calm about this.'

'I don't have a choice. We don't have a choice. We need to know what's really going on here and this is pretty much the only way.'

'Téa we're not here to find out what's really going on,' Duke came to a stop and barred her way for a moment. 'We're here to tell Tristan that his parents know he's back and ask that he forgives us for telling them. If you even try anything else you may end up driving him away forever.'

'I know.'

'So promise me now you're not going to do or say anything to make him any angrier than he's already going to be.'

'I promise,' Téa sighed, 'at least I promise not to intentionally do anything.'

'Alright, so are we ready to do this then?' Duke sucked a deep breath in.

'Not really, but at this point what choice do we really have?'

They crossed the space which lay between them and the door in no time. For half a second Téa's hand hesitated over the door handle, then, without even bothering to knock, she opened the door. The instant the door opened two sets of eyes turned up towards them with annoyance. The first was Kaiba's, who was sat behind his desk reading through a large, leather bound book. Stood over him, with one hand resting on the back of Kaiba's chair and the other on the top of the computer monitor was Tristan. Téa felt a strange shiver run through her as she noticed the fact Tristan was dressed in one of Kaiba's old outfits; the one he'd worn when he arrived at Duellist Kingdom during Pegasus's tournament.

'Did Mokuba tell you I was here?' Tristan pulled himself up straight and folded his arms.

'Yeah, but since he wouldn't tell us why we weren't sure whether or not to believe him.' Téa gave a nervous laugh. 'So why are you here?'

'He needed a place to stay and I offered him one,' Kaiba shrugged as he turned his attention back towards the book in front of him.

'Wait, you offered him a place to stay?' Téa cocked an eyebrow. 'Why?'

'Because Mokuba was worried about him.'

'Okay, but if he's staying with you because Mokuba's worried about him then why is he with you right now? And what's with the book?'

'Why all the questions Téa?' Kaiba flicked his gaze up towards her.

'I'm just... curious, this situation is a little strange, don't you think?'

'Considering all the fairytale nonsense you guys have tried to force down my throat over the years I wouldn't have thought there was anything left which could surprise you.'

'And here I thought you believed in that nonsense now.'

'And maybe that's exactly why I can tolerate Tristan, but that doesn't mean I can tolerate you. So if you don't mind...'

'Uh...' Duke gave a nervous cough, 'it's not that we want to get in your way Kaiba, but we do need to talk to Tristan.'

'Well I'm not stopping you.'

'I know, but...'

'We'd rather speak to him alone,' Téa finished for him.

'Anything you want to say to him you can say in front of me.'

'Okay, who are you and what have you done with Kaiba?'

Kaiba made a noise which was somewhere halfway between disgust and annoyance. He went to say something, but before he could Tristan held up a hand to stop him.

'It's alright Seto,' Tristan smirked, 'if they want me, they've got me.'

* * *

Mai groaned as she started to come round and as her eyes blinked open she found herself staring up at Joey. There was something about the anxious and confused look on his face which made her smile. For a moment she reached a hand out towards him and lightly fingered his cheek.

'You're awake,' Joey's voice sounded dry.

'Yes, I am,' she lowered her hand as her eyes flicked around the chamber she was in. 'How long have I been out for?'

'Long enough.'

'That doesn't really answer my question Joey.'

'I know, but... I'm not really sure you're going to like the answer,' he pulled her into a hug, 'I'm just so glad you're awake again. And don't worry, I'm going to find out who did this to you and punish them.'

'You can't,' Mai gave a strange half laugh as she pulled back from him, 'punish them I mean. The First could, maybe, but I don't think she will.'

'What are you talking about Mai?' Joey frowned.

'It was Mov.'

'What?'

'It was Mov; she was the one who... knocked me out.'

'I don't understand,' Joey shook his head, 'why would she do that? Please don't tell me it was because you're not Silkoneon.'

'No, it was nothing like that. She'd been asked to by someone who was just using me as a way of distracting her,' Mai pulled herself up from the bed. 'We spent a long time talking, about the trickster, about why this storm is happening, about what's to come. Then, right before I woke up, she told me I need to read from the Fabled Truths.'

'What?' Joey looked confused. 'But why?'

'The Truths show people what they need to see,' Mai shrugged, 'that's all Mov would say about it. I think she wants me to understand something or maybe it's to fill in some of the details she was unable to give; I don't think I'll know for sure either way until I read from the book. But one thing I am certain of Joey is that the story is about to begin again.'

'What?'

'All this, the storm, the trickster, my conversation with Mov, it's all about the story,' Mai laughed, '_their_ story. It's all about the child.'

* * *

Duke found himself studying Tristan carefully as they stood in the hallway outside of Kaiba's office. He might have been in borrowed clothes, but the outfit didn't look out of place on him and a part of Duke began to wonder if the whole _Tristan Kaiba_ idea was more of a reality and less of a joke. After all his personality was becoming more Kaiba-like, so why shouldn't his wardrobe change to match.

'I thought you guys wanted to talk to me,' Tristan folded his arms, 'so far I don't hear a whole lot of talking going on.'

'Err... well... you see...' Duke began, but before he could get any further Téa butted her way in.

'What's with the Kaiba hand-me-downs?'

'If this is what you wanted to talk to me about...' Tristan half turned back towards the office.

'No,' Duke caught hold of his arm, only to have Tristan violently shake him off, 'that's not what we're here to talk about. Téa's just a little curious, that's all and I have to admit I am too.'

'In case you weren't aware I didn't exactly take much stuff with me when I left and I wasn't exactly in a position to accumulate much whilst I was away either,' Tristan shrugged. 'I just ran out of clean clothes.'

'And Kaiba just offered some of his?' Téa cocked an eyebrow.

'Just a few bits he has no intention of ever wearing again,' Tristan tugged at the bottom of the sleeves. 'Would you rather he went out and brought me a whole new wardrobe or something, because in my opinion that would have been weirder.'

'Not as weird as you opting to stay with him when you could have just gone home to your parents,' Téa shook her head, 'you know, where your actual clothes are.'

'That would require me actually facing my parents,' his jaw line tensed, 'I'm not ready for that yet.'

'Well you may not exactly have a choice about that...' Duke averted his gaze.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'It means your parents know you're back.'

'What?'

'Your parents know you're back.'

'How?'

'Because we told them,' Téa's tone was as blunt as her words.

'And you did that because?'

'Because we were worried about you Tristan.'

Tristan's gaze flicked between them for a few moments as his face filled with an expression of deep rooted anger.

'I'd expect this from her,' Tristan pointed towards Téa as his gaze fixed on Duke, 'but not from you. I thought you knew better than to _help_ when help's not wanted.'

'I'm sorry... but with Yugi sick and this weird never ending storm I...' Duke shook his head.

'Whatever,' Tristan rolled his eyes. 'Is there anything else you need to confess?'

'No, but...'

'Good, because I've got things to do right now; so if you don't mind...'

'You're sending us away?' Téa gawked at him.

'That is what it looks like, doesn't it?'

'But...?'

'Leave Téa, leave now willingly or I promise you I'll get you kicked out.'

'Tristan...?'

'Téa I think we should do what he says,' Duke began pushing Téa back towards the elevator, 'I really don't think he's joking.'

'But...?'

'Face it Téa, this is our punishment for sticking our nose in where it wasn't wanted. And besides, I thought you wanted to get to Yugi's before lunchtime.'

'I do, but...'

'Téa there's nothing we can do here,' Duke glanced back towards Tristan as he felt the envelope in his front pocket start to burn a hole, 'you can't help someone who doesn't want help. So let's cut our losses and go help someone who does.'


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

'I know we said we'd be working to their plan now, but I think we should stick with one little change the kid made to it.'

'You mean...?'

'It'll pose a longer distraction for them, won't it?'

'You're right, it will. Plus it'll be harder to detect, more so if you also...'

'Exactly what I was thinking; the longer we can hold off... you know, the better.'

'Still, either way you need to get going now. Playing things by their rules might have brought us a little more time, but we're still on a deadline here. The height of this storm is still approaching.'

'I'm aware of that, but from this point onwards timing will be everything, because the absolute truth here is, we only get one shot at this.'

* * *

SK didn't know what bothered him more; the fact Jay still hadn't delivered his report to any of the Mistresses or the fact the guy had now disappeared off the face of the heavens. If he had to guess, knowing Jay's history, he'd have said the second one. A heavy sigh escaped him as he made his way out of yet another empty chamber only to half jump with a mixture of surprise and shock to see someone in the corridor ahead of him. A deep frown of confusion pulled its way across his face.

'Don't tell me you...'

'That's none of your concern SK.'

'Actually I think it is,' he licked his lips, 'I mean...'

'Really SK I'd be less concerned with how I came to be here and more concerned with what I'm planning to do now that I am,' he held up his right hand revealing a small strange golden scarab-like statue clenched between his forefinger and thumb.

'What is that?' SK licked his lips again as he took a step towards him.

'You know for a guy who claims to have been a scientist, you're really not very good at the whole reading thing. You might want to try actually looking through some of the texts available to you sometime SK, that's if you want to become a decent Helper at some point.'

'Cut with the insults and just tell me what that thing is already.'

'As you wish,' he smirked. 'This, SK, is called a Scarna. It was used in four of the six Disconnected Realms in order to control the Silkoneon population. In those Realms it was this thing and not the so called Shadow Games which threatened their people. But it wasn't just Silkoneons who could be controlled by this nice little piece of Reama Tech; it had a similar effect on the other breeds too. Okay, since you don't have a Sintoy you won't enter a Silen state or become more powerful because of it, but you will have the same decrease in intelligence and compulsive need to obey me.'

'Why...?' SK's tongue skated across his lips as he shook his head.

'Things are very, very wrong SK and the only way to fix them is for the order of things to change; something which could very easily happen now the heavens are left unguarded.'

'Their not unguarded, I'm here.'

'Not for long you won't be,' he chuckled, 'and the second you leave someone will come running and _she_ will be so distracted by your little absence she won't realise what's going on until it's too late. Until the seat of power has been claimed by someone who will do more than sit around like some apathetic coward doing nothing.'

'I... I don't understand...'

'Just what kind of idiot are you?' He rolled his eyes. 'I'm trying to take the seat of power away from the First. Don't you get it SK, with all three Mistresses mortalised anyone could come in here and claim the power for themselves, including one of them.'

'But they could only do that if...' SK cut himself off as a shock of realisation ran through him.

'Whichever one of them dies first can change the order of things by claiming control in their own right,' he fixed his sights on SK. 'But death is a messy thing SK and that's exactly where you come in.'

'What...?' SK licked his lips and took a step back to him.

Almost as soon as he had the Scarna left the other guy's hand and flew towards him. In the blink of an eye it had made its way round SK and landed on the back of his neck. The cold feel of metal was instantly followed by a sharp pain, which crushed its way down his spine, before rising up and penetrating his brain. A strange sensation moved through his head and neck, like someone was sucking the intelligence out of him and into the Scarna. Within seconds his mind had dulled and a thick stupor had set in.

'Can you hear me SK?'

'Yes,' SK's voice sounded child-like and wistful.

'Good, because I want you to do something for me SK,' the other guy crossed the distance between them and pressed something into SK's hand. 'I want you to take this and use it to kill Seto Kaiba.'

* * *

From the start this had been the most dangerous part of _their_ plan and the fact the kid had wanted to use a modified version of it as well didn't exactly set his mind at ease. Still it was too late to turn back now. For a moment his eyes glanced towards the clock on his desk as his head started to swarm sickly. He hadn't expected it to feel quite like this, but then again he hadn't been sure what he'd expected. He allowed himself to slump forward over his desk and close his eyes, with any luck he would be out cold in a few more moments and then... then he would just have to trust fate was really on his side.

* * *

Considering the hard time he'd given his brother recently over the lack of time they spent together, Mokuba was almost cursing himself for being late. Okay, so maybe a part of him had delayed making the journey to Kaiba Corp because he knew his brother and Tristan were probably going to be mad at him for the things he'd told Duke and Téa, but it wasn't as though they knew why Tristan was staying with them. Still that was no excuse for him to be late, not even by five minutes.

Without hesitation he made his way out of the elevator and prayed his brother was so caught up in his work he wouldn't notice the fact Mokuba was running a little behind. The second he opened the doors to his brother's office, however, his heart almost stopped dead in his chest. His brother was slumped over his desk and stood behind him with a knife raised high above Kaiba's back was SK.

'Oh my god SK, what are you doing?'

'Must kill Seto,' his cousin's voice sounded strange and childish, 'Seto must die.'

'What?' Mokuba's mouth felt dry. 'What the hell is wrong with you?'

'SK kill Seto.'

'No... no this can't be happening. SK you don't want to do this. SK...!'

His cousin ignored him and started bringing the knife down, but as he did someone charged past Mokuba and knocked SK back towards the window.

'Duke?' Mokuba wasn't sure if he was relieved or not to see the older boy there.

'What the hell's going on?' Téa and a sickly looking Yugi appeared beside Mokuba as Duke tried to wrestle the knife out of SK's hands.

'I think he's gone mad,' he pressed his hands against his face. 'I think SK has completely lost his mind and I don't know why. How can this be happening?'

'I don't think this situation is as straight forward as you think,' Yugi placed a hand on Mokuba's shoulder although Mokuba got the feeling it was more to support Yugi than to comfort him. 'When Téa told me Tristan was with Kaiba I just got this sense that I needed to be here. I can't explain it, especially since I'm still feeling like I'm about to die or something,' his image flickered for a moment between his own and Joey's, 'but it was like I just knew something was wrong.'

'So you do think SK's gone mad then?'

'No,' Yugi shook his head, 'I think there's a lot more to it than that.'

Mokuba turned his attention back towards the Duke and SK. Somehow Duke had managed to wrestle the knife out of SK's hands and kicked it clean across the room. He then attempted to restrain the Mistresses' Helper.

'Kill Seto, kill Seto.' SK struggled. 'Must. Have to. Let me.'

'Can someone get some rope or something for me to tie him down with?' Duke shot a look in their direction. 'I don't think I can hold him for much longer.'

Without hesitation Yugi began to fumble with one of his belts. In his sickly state it took him a while to get it off and every second which passed made Mokuba's heart beat with the panic that SK might break away from Duke and somehow succeed in killing Kaiba.

'Téa grab a chair,' Yugi glanced towards her the second he managed to get the belt off.

She nodded and did as she was told, whilst instinct made Mokuba help Duke and the clearly weakened Yugi force SK into the chair. Short work was then made of binding SK to it, although it did require Yugi removing another of his belts.

'Kill Seto, kill Seto.' SK struggled against his binds. 'Must. Understand? Must kill Seto. Have to. Understand? Let me.'

'What do we do?' Mokuba took a few steps back and swallowed hard. 'What's wrong with him?'

'I don't know,' Yugi sank exhaustedly to the floor, 'but I think we should try and get hold of Joey. He understands more about this kind of thing than we do.'

'You really shouldn't be out of bed Yugi,' Téa shot him a look as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

'I know,' Yugi wiped some of the cold sweat from his forehead, 'but can you imagine what might have happened if I wasn't?'

* * *

'The Fables won't just show you anything you know,' Catilin stared at her, 'only what you need to see.'

'I know, that's what I was told,' Mai found herself tentatively running her hands across the cover.

'Told by who?'

'I'm not sure I can really get into that right now Catilin, all I know is that they wanted me to look in this book which I'm guessing means there's something I need to see.'

'Well whilst you're at it tell the Fables I need to see the passage about this storm,' Catilin pouted. 'It's shown me a lot in the last two days, but not what I wanted to see.'

'What exactly has it been showing you?' Mai frowned at her, mildly concerned by the way Catilin was whining like a little girl.

'Mostly cryptic stuff about Win,' she folded her arms, 'there were a few other things mixed in there too, but nothing about the storm.'

'Maybe you just don't need to know about the storm right now.'

'Then why was I able to find that passage before?'

'I don't know Cat,' Mai sighed, 'I honestly have more questions than I have answers. All I know for sure right know is that I need to read from this book.'

'Okay,' Catilin pulled a face for a moment, 'sorry I'm being so bratty, I just don't like it when things don't go the way I want.'

'I'm sure the Fables didn't do it to you on purpose Catilin.'

'I know,' she lowered her gaze, 'but maybe I couldn't see what I wanted to see because I was bad before. Maybe the Fables are punishing me.'

'I don't think that's it Cat. I'm not sure if these Fables are supposed to have an inbuilt morality, even if they do have a mind of their own. You just couldn't find what you wanted because you weren't meant to.'

'I know.'

'Good, then maybe you can help me understand whatever it is I'm meant to find,' Mai took a deep breath as she opened the book, 'because I get the feeling this is going to be about as straight forward as a triangle.'

'I'll help you Mai,' Catilin laughed, 'the Fables are my family's legacy and I'm an expert in them.'


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

'Let SK go.' SK's eyes stared pleadingly at him. 'SK kill Seto. SK must. Let SK go now. Please'

'I'm not going to let you kill my brother SK,' Mokuba shook his head. 'What the hell is wrong with you?'

'SK kill Seto. Must do it. Must. Master wants so master must get. Don't make master mad. No. Bad. Let SK go. No mad master. No bad. SK just kill Seto.'

'Wait, master,' Duke frowned, 'does that mean someone sent him here to do this?'

'No, my cousin's just gone insane,' Mokuba gritted his teeth, 'of course someone sent him here. Someone must be controlling him somehow, he wouldn't act like this else.'

'SK mad now,' SK glared at him. 'Let SK go. Let SK go or all suffer. Master be very mad. You all be sorry.'

'Wow,' the sound of Joey's voice from behind them made everyone start.

'I told you on the phone it was serious,' Téa shot a look in his direction.

'I know, but I thought you were exaggerating or something,' Joey crossed the room towards SK, 'how long has he been talking like this?'

'Since I discovered him trying to kill my brother,' Mokuba folded his arms.

'I see,' Joey narrowed his gaze on SK. 'Tell me, who is your master?'

'Master tell SK kill Seto.'

'I got that,' Joey rolled his eyes, 'but who is your master?'

'Master tell SK. Let SK go. SK kill Seto.'

'We're not getting anywhere like this.' Duke gave a heavy sigh. 'Maybe if we figure out what's wrong with him we can reverse it somehow.'

'It could be one of several things,' Yugi pulled himself to his feet, 'the problem is a number of them could have some pretty nasty side effects if they're not dealt with properly and then we may never know who's behind all this.'

'Are you okay Yuug?' Joey focused his attention on him for a moment. 'You're looking kind of... well, you look like hell.'

'The Face of Friendship's powers are out of control,' his image flickered for a moment, too quickly for Mokuba to make out who he'd briefly changed into, 'between that and all this rain...'

'Wait... what?'

'SK kill Seto. Let SK go. SK kill Seto.' SK began stamping his feet like some insane child, momentarily bringing the attention of the room back towards himself.

'The Face of Friendship's powers are out of control,' Joey refocused the room's attention on Yugi.

'Yeah, they have been since that weirdness at the Kaibas' and she's pretty sure the Pure must be affected as well.'

'Let me make it three for three then,' Joey pulled a face. 'The First was babbling on about her powers being weird last night, but I was more concerned about Mai. I feel kind of bad now because I told her, her powers weren't my concern, that they didn't affect me. I guess I was wrong. I mean, I know I was acting a little out of character, but I just thought I was worried.'

'Do you think whoever sent SK to kill Kaiba has something to do with the Mistresses powers being weird?'

'Maybe...'

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a loud groan. To Mokuba's great relief his brother started to stir. With a jerky lack of coordination Kaiba placed his hands on the back of his bed as his body slowly moved into an upright sitting position. His eyes winced open and an annoyed look spread across his face.

'Since when did my office become a playground for you geeks?'

'Well I can't totally be sure about this one, but I think it has to be around the same time SK tried to kill you,' Joey folded his arms.

'He what?' Kaiba shunted his gaze towards his cousin.

'We think... no, we're pretty sure he's being controlled by someone right now,' Mokuba swallowed hard, 'so it's not really his fault.'

'I see,' there was something almost too calm about the way Kaiba was acting which made Mokuba nervous.

'Let SK go,' SK started up again. 'Don't make master mad. Let SK go. SK kill Seto. Let SK go.'

'Do you think it's a spell?' Kaiba turned his attention towards Joey.

'That's exactly what I was thinking,' Joey took a step back from him. 'Are you reading my mind?'

'The Pure is a telepath,' Yugi studied Kaiba for a moment, 'if her powers are playing up like the First and the Face of Friendship's are then it's possible he did accidently read your mind.'

'I guess,' Joey didn't look convinced. 'But we really should be focusing on SK right now. With him not up there then the heavens are pretty much unguarded and that's really not a good thing.'

'So shouldn't you be checking that out right about now,' the sound of Tristan's voice sent shivers running up and down Mokuba's spine.

For half a second there was a deep and deafening silence as all eyes turned towards the doorway. Tristan's eyes scanned across them, his expression revealing nothing about what he might be thinking or feeling. When the silence finally broke the sound was almost as sickening as the words.

'Master,' SK again struggled against his binds, 'master help SK.'

'Master,' Joey's voice was dry as his gaze met with his old friend's, 'Tristan...?'

* * *

Sleep had hit her out of nowhere causing her to drop literally where she was standing. The darkness of her unconscious mind quickly gave way to disjointed images and a strong sense of fear and foreboding.

'We want your child... Give us your child... We want your child...' a series of disembodied voices hissed at her. 'Give us your child... We need your child... Give it to us...'

'No,' she turned a full circle and succeeded only in making her own head spin, 'you can't have it,' she clutched her stomach, 'you can't have my baby.'

'We want you child... We want its power... Give us your child...'

'No,' she held firm, 'you can't have my baby.'

'You can't protect it... You can't keep it from us... You're powerless... You're powerless against us... You can't stop us... You can't stop us from taking your child... Your child belongs with us... You can't protect your baby... You're powerless... You're useless... You can't stop us... We will take your child from you... You can't stop us...'

'No,' she tightened the grip on her stomach, 'you can't have my baby. I won't let you take my baby.'

'You can't stop us... How do you expect to stop us when you have no power...? You can't protect your child... You can't even protect yourself...'

Something sharp gazed against her arm causing her to gasp in shock. Looking down she noticed a bleeding cut on her left bicep. For half a second she told herself it was just a dream, that the wound wasn't real, then a strong wave of pain hit her and confirmed what a part of her already knew; this was no ordinary dream.

'You can't protect yourself... You can't save yourself... You're no good to that child... You will just taint that child... You can't be allowed to raise it... You're evil...'

'No,' she shook her head, 'I'm not. I'm not evil.'

'You're evil... You can't be trusted with the child... You can't protect the child from anything... not even from yourself... You're evil... You can't be trusted with the child... You're powerless against us... You will give the child to us...'

'No,' she wasn't sure if she was afraid or angry or both, 'no I won't, I won't give you my baby. I won't. Leave me alone.'

'We can't leave you alone... We can't leave the child with you... We need the child... Give us the child...'

* * *

Covo had dismissed the guys who'd been guarding their would be prisoner and was just working up the courage to go into the room and talk with its occupant when the screaming started. It emanated out of a room three doors down and the second Covo heard it he knew exactly who it belonged to. Without fear of consequence he ran full pelt towards the room and burst in to discover Crovell strewn across the floor writhing in agony.

Instantly he rushed towards her, terrified something might be wrong with her or the baby or worse still both of them. A quick examination confirmed nothing except the fact that she was trapped in some kind of nightmare.

'Crovell...' he swallowed hard as he stroked some of the sweat soaked hair back from her forehead.

It was at this point he noticed the cut on her arm. Automatically he grabbed for her bed sheets and tore a strip off. Carefully he bandaged the wound, all the while trying to figure out a way to bring her back from whatever state of consciousness she was in.

'Crovell you have to wake up,' he placed a hand on her forehead. 'I need you to wake up. Please, I can't stand seeing you like this. Please wake up Crovell, I love you.'

'Veronie,' Crovell gasped loudly as her body shot into a sitting position.

For a few seconds Covo felt strangely hurt and confused; why would he be the first person she thought of? She didn't even know him. He quickly suppressed those feelings as he placed his hands on Crovell's shoulders and forced her gaze round to meet with his.

'Are you okay?'

'I... No,' she shook her head, 'no I... I...'

She threw herself into his arms as she broke down into uncontrollable tears. With little else he could do he held her close to him, stroked her hair and tried to sooth her. He had no idea how much time passed before she started to calm down, all he knew was he was glad when she had.

'Where... where's Veronie?' Crovell sniffed as she pulled away from him.

'I don't know,' he shook his head, 'I think they left earlier, but... They kind of left without saying anything to anyone, all I really have are rumours.'

'Are you sure?' Her face pulled with concern. 'Are you sure they're not here?' 'I'm certain they're not here. I checked for them myself before...' he stopped himself. 'I guess that doesn't matter right now. Why are you so concerned about them anyway?'

'Because I...' Crovell's voice trembled as her eyes once again filled with tears, 'because I'm scared Covo. I'm scared... I'm scared something bad is going to happen to... to my child and... and it'll be all my fault.'

'Hey, hey now don't say that,' Covo stroked the hair back from her face. 'Nothing bad's going to happen to you or your baby as long as I'm around. I told you that.'

'You can't protect me,' she shook her head, 'you don't have the power to protect me. Not from this.'

'What... what's that supposed to mean?'

'Oh Covo, I think this is my punishment. My real punishment,' she pulled herself away from him.

'Punishment for what? Crovell I don't understand.'

'Of course you don't. You have no idea who I really am, what I've done, what I'm capable of,' she wrapped her arms around her stomach. 'I've done such terrible things Covo and now I'm being punished for them.'

'Crovell... I... I don't believe there's a single bad bone in your whole body. I don't know who's made you believe you're capable of anything but good, but whoever they are...'

'Oh Covo, you don't know me, you don't know what I've done. And now because of it somebody's after my child,' her lower lip quivered. 'Somebody's after my child and I don't have the power to protect it from them.'

'Then let me,' Covo pulled himself to his feet. 'Let me protect you and your child. I promise...'

'You don't have the power necessary to keep that promise Covo,' she shook her head. 'Whoever's after my child could hurt me from inside my own dreams, how can you protect me from that?'

'I...'

'You... you can't protect me, but I... I know someone who can. Someone who has to and I need you to take me to them.'

'Of... of course,' he nodded. 'I... I'll do everything I can to help you, I promise.'

'Then I need you to take me to the Southern Palace, _right now_,' Crovell met and held Covo's gaze, 'because I don't have the power to get there myself.'


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

'When will I know I've found everything I'm supposed to,' Mai glanced up towards Catilin after reading her fourth entry.

'When the Fables stop showing you anything new,' Catilin tilted her head to one side.

'Okay,' Mai stared back down at the book, 'so what's this one about?'

'The Child's Storm,' Catilin frowned at the title. 'No fair, how'd you manage to find one of the ones I wanted?'

'Huh? How do you know this is one of the ones you were looking for?'

'It's not _the_ one I was looking for, but it's talking about a storm, see.' Catilin pointed to the page. 'It rained to show he was coming, because he _was_ coming. It rained for days. Hard. Heavy. Constant. All of magic could feel the storm. All of magic knew the child was coming. They waited with baited breath for the storm to give birth.'

'For the storm to give birth,' Mai cut her off, 'that has to be some kind of metaphor, right? This child that's coming isn't going to be the child of the storm, but not literally.'

'The Fables aren't written word for word accurate Mai, do I have to tell you that every time,' Catilin laughed.

'No, but... the symbolism is a little confusing on this one.'

'I haven't even finished reading it all yet,' Catilin shook her head. 'Do you want me to read you the rest?'

'The Mother of all Earth was the first to know the child was coming,' Mai began reading herself. 'Then the spirits who became restless upon hearing the news, because the child would be born to repeat their story and they were afraid of the same tragic end.'

'Wait, what?' Catilin pulled the book back from her again. 'The storm comes to change the details. With magic and to magic the child of the storm will come. Few will know the child before; all will know the child after. He will be the storm, the power and the chaos.'

'I'm confused,' Mai took the book back from Catilin, 'is this child supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing.'

'I'm not sure,' Catilin shook her head, 'but maybe we should find the next entry now.'

* * *

'What do you mean you don't have the power?' Covo frowned at her.

'I need to get to the Southern Palace now and I don't have the time to wait the two hours it takes to travel there. You need to Jump me.'

'Can't you just Jump yourself Crovell?'

'I...' Crovell turned away from him. 'I can't, I don't have the power to Jump.'

'But I thought you were Silkoneon.'

'I am.'

'Then why don't you have the power to Jump? Have you not mastered it yet or something, because you wouldn't be the only one. Jumping isn't as easy as people make out you know.'

'This has nothing to do with whether or not I've mastered it Covo, I just don't have the power to do it, not anymore,' her sad eyes turned up towards him. 'Please don't ask any more questions, just trust me when I say you don't want to know the answer.'

'Crovell...?'

'Covo I need your help. I need you to take me to the Southern Palace. And I need you to take me there now.'

* * *

'Tristan tell me this isn't true,' Joey's gaze fixed on his old friend, 'tell me you didn't order SK to kill Kaiba.'

Tristan said nothing and in the chilling silence Mokuba felt himself glancing more than once towards his older brother. Kaiba's expression was half hidden behind clasped hands and unreadable. In Mokuba's mind he had no doubt that his brother was hurt by this betrayal; after all, it was pretty clear to Mokuba the two of them had become friends and close friends at that, even if neither of them was willing to admit it.

'Master help SK,' SK struggled against his binds again as he broke the silence. 'SK tried master. SK tried. Help SK please master. Help SK. Help...'

'For the love of god shut up SK,' Tristan shot him a look.

Instantly SK did as he was told and everyone's gaze fell with a renewed harshness on Tristan.

'So it's true then?' Joey's voice sounded dry. 'You really are the one in control of him.'

'Why?' Yugi took a tittering step towards him. 'I don't understand Tristan, what's gotten into you?'

'What's gotten into me?' Tristan gave a slightly hysterical laugh. 'You're hosting one of the most powerful being's in the universe, a female being at that, and you want to know what's gotten into me?'

'Huh?' Joey just looked confused. 'What do the Mistresses have to do with any of this Tristan?'

'You don't get it?' Tristan's clear hysteria was starting to grow. 'How do you not get what's going on here? This has everything to do with them. _Everything._'

'Tristan...?'

'I want to see them right now,' Tristan held his hand out towards the knife which moved from its position on the floor into his hand in the blink of an eye. 'Show me them right now,' he pointed the knife towards himself.

'Tristan what are you doing?' Joey's eyes went large with fear. 'You can't be serious about this.'

'I am. So help me I'll kill myself if you don't let me see them right now.'

'Tristan...?'

'We should do what he says,' Kaiba pulled himself to his feet.

'Since when do you give into threats?' Joey cocked an eyebrow at him.

'That's none of your business Wheeler. I'd just rather not have to call professional cleaners in because one of you dorks decided to commit suicide in my office.'

It was clear Joey didn't totally buy the explanation, but before he could say anything Yugi jumped in.

'I think Kaiba's right; I think we should give into him.'

'So you're going to outnumber me on this one.'

'That's the way it's supposed to work, right?' Kaiba smirked.

Again Joey looked as though he was about to say something, but instead he shook his head and turned back towards Tristan. Within seconds a white glaze had formed over his eyes. In the seconds which followed Yugi and Kaiba's eyes had gone the same way. The knife dropped from Tristan's hand and he collapsed down onto all fours.

'I'm sorry,' the words trembled their way out of Tristan, 'I'm so sorry. I didn't know how else to get to you. I didn't know how else to get your attention. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,' he began to sob.

'What is all this about Tristan?' Joey's multi-tonal voice returned as he moved towards him.

'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I just didn't know how else I could get to you. I didn't know how else I could see you again. I had to see you again. Don't you understand?'

'Tristan...?' Joey knelt down in front of him.

The second he did Tristan threw his arms around him in a way which meant his right hand was cradling the back of Joey's neck. As he sobbed into Joey's shoulder Mokuba couldn't help but notice a strange glow which emanated out of Tristan's hand. For half a second he was afraid this was some kind of trick and that Tristan had gone crazy and was planning on killing the Mistresses or something.

'Uh... he's healed us,' Yugi gasped as he stared down at his own hand.

'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,' Tristan continued to sob. 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.'

'I don't understand,' Joey did his best to glance back towards Yugi. 'How can he have access to Win's powers?'

'He was born with Win's presence inside of him, remember,' Kaiba tilted his head to one side, 'maybe the boundaries between what is him and what is Win have blurred.'

'But even if that is true, Win was only able to heal me in Kama Traydon after...' Joey cut himself off. 'Oh.'

'We should have done more to make sure he was okay,' Yugi placed a hand over his mouth. 'We shouldn't have left him on his own all these months. I can sense some of what he's been through and it's... We should have done more to find him. We should have made sure they did more to find him.'

'Win warned us,' Kaiba lowered his gaze. 'He told us we needed to make sure we gave him what he needed and instead we gave him only what he wanted. This is our fault.'

'We didn't know,' Joey shook his head as Tristan continued to sob into his shoulder.

'We didn't want to know,' Kaiba flicked his glazed eyes towards Mokuba with a strange kind of warning. 'That's why none of us tried to help.'

Mokuba felt a strange wave of fear move through him; why wouldn't the Pure want her sisters to know she'd been there for Tristan. Maybe because it clearly wasn't enough and she didn't want to admit she'd made a mistake in not tell them so they could have stopped things going this far. Something about that idea made Mokuba feel like he was grasping at straws, but he'd concentrate on getting the explanation out of the Pure or his brother later, right now they had bigger things to worry about.

* * *

Jay had been deliberately avoiding SK, which wasn't exactly hard considering how much better he knew the heavens. But even so he was starting to get a little worried he'd not been found yet; after all, SK had to know he hadn't reported to the Mistresses. Worse still he might have figured out he'd had contact with Catilin twice and if he had... Jay's stomach twisted a little, what if SK was just trying to make him squirm?

'I know our powers have been severely limited Jay, but do you have to be so inept with what we have left?' Octan gave an impatient sigh.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Can't you feel the change in atmosphere? SK isn't up here anymore.'

'What? But that's not possible, he's not supposed to leave his post and he wouldn't.'

'He would if he didn't have a choice about it. Go on, check it out, tell me I'm wrong.'

Jay took a deep breath in and forced himself to hunt the heavens for SK. He still didn't totally trust Octan again, but he didn't honestly think the guy would lie about something like this. His stomach twitched nervously as his search turned up no sign of SK.

'What did I tell you,' Octan sounded a little too smug.

'Okay, so he's not up here, what do you think happened to him?'

'You know as well as I do our powers are too limited now for me to be able to tell something like that. But I don't need my powers to know this is a huge opportunity for us.'

'What do you mean?' Jay frowned.

'Have you forgotten your little conversation with Catilin already Jay? This is our opportunity to redeem ourselves in the eyes of the Mistresses.'

'Ahna and Catilin too?'

'Does it matter?'

'Yes it matters,' Jay gritted his teeth, 'I don't want to be redeemed if they're not too.'

'Why do you have to care so much about them?'

'Why do _you_ have to care so much about me,' Jay shook his head. 'Look Octan, if I redeem myself and I'm still not allowed to see Cat or Ahna then I might as well not be redeemed. I care about them and nothing you can do or say will change that.'

'Okay Jay,' Octan chuckled, 'redemption for all it is.'


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

They'd done it. They'd finally come to the last passage Mai was supposed to find. Catilin couldn't say she wasn't confused by the information Mai had been given; more so when she compared it to what the Fables had shown her previously. She went to voice her concerns to Mai, but her friend acted as though someone had suddenly lit a fire under her.

'I've got to go.'

'Go where?' Catilin frowned.

'I don't know,' Mai turned her gaze towards the window, 'I just have this feeling like there's somewhere I need to be right now.'

'Do you want me to come with you?'

'No, no I need to be on my own for this. I don't quite understand it myself but... It's like I can feel the rain all of a sudden.'

'What do you mean?'

'I'm not sure,' Mai shook her head, 'but I suddenly feel... strange. Like I can sense something... feel something. It's not very well defined, but I know it's there.'

'What if this thing is dangerous? Maybe I should come with you. I don't want you hurt Mai.'

'No... no I have to do this and... and I get the sense you need to do something as well.' Mai's face filled with a look of confusion.

'What do you mean?'

'I'm not sure. I don't really understand it. I just get these feelings. I don't know if it's the Fables guiding me or some higher power, I just know I need to be alone right now and you... you have something you need to do.'

'But Mai...'

'It'll be okay Catilin,' Mai placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her. 'It will all be okay, just trust yourself, even without your powers you know what it is you need to do.'

With that Mai turned and left the room. For a few long moments Catilin stared after her, biting her lower lip. She didn't like the feeling swirling within her stomach. The one telling her it was a very, very bad idea to let Mai go off on her own like this.

'I have to tell Veronie,' she murmured to herself. 'Veronie will be able to fix this.'

* * *

Tristan had wept for almost ten minutes before falling into a zoned out, zombie-like state. Without a word the three Mistresses moved him out of Kaiba's office and into a nearby room, leaving him sat in an almost comatosed state on one of the chairs.

'Will he be alright in here do you think?' The Face of Friendship tilted her head to one side.

'I don't think he's going anywhere for a while,' the Pure folded her arms. 'I just can't believe how selfish we were.'

'How selfish we were?' The First cocked an eyebrow at her.

'We remembered to deal with everyone else but him. We just left him to his own devices even though we knew he was worse off than anyone else. He died and knew he was dead. He discovered that a huge chunk of himself used to be _our_ husband. And considering the fact we're now in the body of some of his friends... male friends at that... it must have been really hard and confusing for him. No wonder he went off the deep end.'

'Wow that was surprisingly insightful for you,' the Face of Friendship frowned at her. 'Normally I'm the one who can see these things.'

'I can see them too, I just don't normally choose to express them,' the Pure shrugged. 'Still now that we know what he's been through he's no longer a threat to us. Well so long as we remember to deal with the consequences this time.'

'From the state he's in right now I'd say it's going to be a few hours before he returns to his senses,' the First sighed.

'I agree,' the Face of Friendship nodded, 'so we should spend this time working out a way of fixing whatever's wrong with SK.'

'You two should go, I'll stay here and keep an eye on the two of them,' the Pure lowered her head slightly. 'You both know I don't exactly have the patience for the whole research thing and besides I'm the one he went after first so I'd rather keep them both were I can see them.'

'That makes sense to me,' the First turned from her. 'But at the first sign of trouble I want you to contact me, okay? You may have the power to fend off any attack SK might throw at you, but you're still vulnerable to damage in that mortal body of yours and this isn't Kama Traydon either; if you die here you die for real.'

'I'm aware of that. Now go will you?'

Without another word her sisters left. The Pure let out a long held breath and eyed Tristan up for a moment. A slim smirk pulled at her lips as she made her way out of the room and back into Kaiba's office.

'Where's Yugi, and Joey?' Téa frowned the second she entered.

'They've gone to find some way of dealing with him,' she indicated towards SK. 'Which reminds me, could the three of you go to the security office and find something a little more appropriate to restrain him with, I don't want him getting loose.'

'Couldn't you just use some of your magic to hold him in place or something?' Mokuba frowned.

'I guess you're asking that because you saw what my sister was capable of, but unfortunately I don't have that kind of power. The three of us have unique abilities and restraint is one of the First's.'

'Okay, I guess that makes sense,' Mokuba's face filled with a strange little smile, 'but we don't all need to go, so I...'

'No, all of you should go,' the Pure cut him off. 'I may not be able to restrain him, but I can read his mind and I want to see if I can try to figure out what's going on inside his head. Unfortunately that will take more than a little concentration.'

'So you'd like a few minutes on your own with him,' Duke folded his arms, 'I guess we can understand that. Besides I could do with getting out of this office for a few minutes anyway.'

'Me too,' Téa nodded.

'Okay, we'll all go,' Mokuba eyed up the Pure. 'But if something happens...'

'Nothing's going to happen, I assure you,' the Pure smiled at him. 'Now go.'

The three of them left and the Pure almost felt as though getting rid of them was a little too easy. She perched herself on the edge of Kaiba's desk for a few long moments and allowed herself to study the Helper. He was still struggling periodically against his binds, but he hadn't said a word since Tristan had told him to be quiet. The smirk she'd had earlier returned as she made her way from the desk to behind SK. Once there she began fiddling with something hidden under his hair at the base of his neck. As she did she slowly allowed her host to start taking back over. With a strange kind of pride from the back of Kaiba's head she watched as he pulled the small, shiny object away from his cousin.

* * *

'Thanks,' SK blinked as normal thoughts started to return to him, 'but how did you know?'

Kaiba smirked as he perched on the edge of his desk and began tossing the Scarna up into the air and catching it.

'How did I know which bit exactly?' He glanced towards SK. 'What was controlling you or how to remove it?'

'Both I guess.'

'I knew because we planned it.'

'What?' SK felt his blood run cold.

'You heard me,' he stopped tossing the Scarna and placed it down on the desk next to him, 'I knew because _we_ planned it.'

'And by we you mean?'

'Me, Tristan, Win and the Pure.'

SK felt so stunned he didn't know what to think, never mind say or do. As he sat there gawking at his cousin the door to the office opened and Tristan entered.

'So what exactly was with the hysterics before,' Kaiba half glared at him, 'we didn't agree to that.'

'It was the only way I could think of fixing the Pure's little power problem sooner rather than later,' Tristan folded his arms. 'Besides it was enough to convince them to leave me pretty much unguarded, wasn't it?'

'And I suppose you just loved having the opportunity to have your arms wrapped around that dog.'

'What's the matter Seto, not jealous are we?' Tristan cocked an eyebrow at him.

Kaiba said nothing. Instead he just folded his arms and turned his head away. A slim smirk appeared on Tristan's face as he made his way towards Kaiba.

'You don't care, remember?' Tristan brushed some of the hair out of Kaiba's eyes. 'What you're feeling right now it's all her, it's not you. So you're not jealous Seto, she is.'

'Whatever,' he shrugged. 'Have you sent her the message yet or not?'

'It's been taken care of. It shouldn't be long now before all the pieces start falling into place.'

'I thought you wanted to keep an eye on _their_ progress.'

'I do, I just wanted to make sure you were okay first,' Tristan frowned. 'You are okay, right?'

'Careful, that almost sounded like you care.'

'You're right, it did,' Tristan place a hand under his chin forcing their gazes to lock for a few minutes. 'I should get going now.'

With that Tristan disappeared and SK was left in an even more numb state of shock than he had been previously. Tristan and Kaiba were working together? It was hard to believe; harder still when there was clearly more to their relationship than co-conspirators. He wasn't totally sure what to make of any of it, but he did know one thing, neither one of them had had any intention on SK killing Kaiba. From that start that had been little more than a way of distracting the First and the Face of Friendship so they could do whatever it was they needed to do next. The only question was, just what was it they were planning?

'You've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do.' SK fixed his gaze on his cousin.

'Really,' he rolled his eyes, 'and what makes you think I'm going to explain anything to you?'

'Cuz if you don't, I'll tell everyone what I just saw.'

'What makes you think I'll allow you to do that?'

'Just how are you planning to stop me?'

'Really SK, have you not learnt anything about the Mistresses in the time you've been working for them,' Kaiba flicked his hand and the belts which were restraining SK loosened and fell to the ground.

'How...?'

'Just because Wheeler is too stupid to figure it out and Yugi is too blind sighted by the empathy to try, doesn't mean we can't access our Mistresses powers. All of our Mistresses powers.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

_'Telepathic control SK,'_ Kaiba's voice sounded clearly through SK's mind. _'I may not be able to restrain you, but that doesn't mean I can't control you.'_


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

'Do you really think we need all of this stuff?' Téa stared down at the box full of ropes, chains and handcuffs she'd somehow ended up carrying. 'I mean SK's not that strong, is he?'

'Well,' Mokuba hunched his shoulders a little, 'it's not just SK I'm worried about; I was thinking about tying Tristan up too, you know, just to be sure that he won't try anything.'

'I don't know if there's much point in that,' Téa shook her head, 'I mean, he seemed pretty zoned out when they took him out of the room. I really don't think he's that much of a threat anymore.'

'Maybe, but... I get this feeling there's a lot more going on here than any of us realise; so better safe than sorry.' Mokuba pressed his lips together and hoped the others wouldn't pry too much into why he was thinking that way.

'There's always more going on,' Téa rolled her eyes, 'although I still don't get why Tristan acted the way he did. It's almost as though he's in love with the Mistresses or something.'

'Wait, what did you say?' Mokuba felt his insides turn cold.

'I said it was almost as if he were in love with the Mistresses.'

'Oh my god he is,' he almost felt himself backing away from his own words as his mind flicked back the _private_ interactions between Tristan and his brother he'd witnessed.

'But Yugi, Kaiba and Joey are the Mistresses,' Téa frowned, 'wouldn't that mean….?'

'It would explain the way he's been acting since he got back,' Duke tilted his head to one side. 'I mean, it's got to be pretty confusing for him, right? It's probably why he ran off in the first place.'

'You're probably right,' Mokuba lowered his gaze, 'he must have realised what he was feeling back then.'

'You mean that incident you guys won't talk to us about right,' Téa cocked an eyebrow, 'the one which turned Kaiba and Yugi into Mistress' hosts.'

'Yeah.'

'But Joey had been the First for a while before then, do you think that means...?'

'It would explain the way he was acting before he left,' Duke pulled a face. 'You know maybe we should check on Tristan first.'

'That sounds like a good idea to me.' Téa nodded as the doors to the lift they were in opened.

They made their way towards the office Tristan was in. With his heart beating strangely in his chest Mokuba opened the door and peered inside. No one was there. Or at least no one was in sight.

'What...?' Téa took a few steps inside. 'How...? He was a total zombie when they moved him in here.'

'No,' Mokuba shook his head, 'no this isn't happening. How can this be happening?'

'Maybe he's still in here somewhere,' Duke began searching. 'I mean, Téa's right, he was totally zoned out, there's no way he could have faked that, right?'

'Uh...' a strange realisation hit Mokuba, 'he could if he had practice.'

'You say that as though he planned to break down in front of everybody or something,' Téa stared at him, 'there's no way he could be that manipulative.'

'Don't be so sure,' Mokuba backed out of the room, 'he has escaped hasn't he?'

* * *

She wasn't totally sure what she was waiting for, but she knew she had to wait for it. It was a strange feeling, like dreaming about standing in a line when you didn't know what the line was for or why. She did know the child had something to do with all this and the only way she was going to find out what was by waiting.

She sensed someone approaching long before she heard a single one of their footsteps. Instantly she got up from the floor she was sitting on and turned to face them. She wasn't sure if she was surprised to see who finally arrived or not, she just knew somehow this was what she'd been waiting for.

'What are you doing here?' The newcomer frowned at her.

'Waiting for you.'

'I see,' he folded his arms, 'but you're not exactly the one I'm here for. Well... not yet anyway.'

'Are you saying you'll need me eventually?'

'Perhaps,' he took a few steps towards her. 'But I am surprised you're here, I thought the kid had taken care of you.'

'So you're working with him then? The one capable of fooling an empath.'

'Fooling an empath?' He frowned.

'Mov; the kid was able to hide his real intentions from her, for a short while at any rate. You're working with him, aren't you?'

'Now why would you think that?'

'How else would you know I was supposed to be tied up right now? So are you helping him to stop the birth of the child?'

'We were, but we're not anymore.'

'Good, then I won't have to stop you,' she took a few steps towards him.

'What makes you think you could?'

'You're right, I probably couldn't stop you, but I would do everything in my power to try.'

'Why?'

'Because everyone is born when they need to be born and this child needs to be born now.'

* * *

For a few long moments the Face of Friendship found herself staring around the Great Library with a strange kind of awe. She might have been one of the three most powerful beings in existence, but the beauty of the mortal world had always fascinated her. She found it hard to believe beings with such limited power could create anything, never mind something as awe-inspiring as this. Yet time and time again she found herself enthralled by the creative power of the mortal world.

'Are you coming or not,' the First gave an impatient sigh when the Face of Friendship failed to follow her deeper into the library.

'Sorry,' she jumped step after her sister, 'it's just... the wonders of mortality.'

'How can you be so fascinated by something so limited,' the First rolled her eyes.

'It's because they're so limited that I am fascinated by them. They're so much more subtle than we are and yet they can create things like this,' she turned a full circle with her arms stretched out to either side. 'How can you not be fascinated by them?'

'Since when do you have opinions on things?' The First frowned at her. 'Everything you are is influenced by those around you.'

For a half a second the Face of Friendship felt a strange wave of anger ripple through her, but she quickly pushed it to one side. No matter how much she didn't want to admit it the First was right, she was and had always been a reflection of those around her. So maybe her fascination with mortality was just a reflection of mortality itself.

'Someone's been here recently,' the First's hand hovered over some of the scrolls they needed, 'someone powerful.'

'Someone powerful,' the Face of Friendship moved towards her, 'like one of the gods?'

'It's definitely their level of power, but the gods can't access this place, you know that.'

'Can you tell who it is?'

'I can't distinguish the subtlety of power this degraded; that's your area of expertise remember?'

'Right,' the Face of Friendship nodded as her own hand hovered above the scrolls. 'I sense confusion, anger, pain, a sense of determination and pride, love maybe. Whoever touched these scrolls last came here with a purpose; they knew what they were looking for and where they were likely to find it. Uh...' she felt an electric like pulse travel back through her hand as it hovered over one scroll in particular, 'the Fables. Whoever was here last was after something in the Fabled Truths. Everything else they read was just to understand what they'd found.'

'Then you need to channel their energy so we can discover whatever it was they found out.'

'Right,' the Face of Friendship nodded as she pulled the scroll out of its cubby hole. 'Whoever was here First, you were right when you said they were powerful, how else would their presence linger so long.'

'Can you tell who it is?'

'I'm not sure, but... I have this strange feeling it was Win.'

* * *

Covo felt really weird; like he was doing something wrong only he didn't know what or why. His eyes turned towards Crovell and several times he opened and closed his mouth leaving the jumble of questions inside of him unasked. At some point he was certain she would tell him what was going on; the problem was he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know.

'Crovell maybe it's not such a good idea that we come here, I mean this is the Southern Palace and we've not been invited and...'

'I won't blame you for leaving Covo,' she smiled sadly at him, 'but I can't, not until I've seen Veronie.'

'Veronie's not here,' an unfamiliar voice sounded to the side of them.

'Jay,' Crovell turned towards him, 'what are you doing here?'

'Waiting for Catilin, I can sense she's on her way here too. I didn't expect to find you though.'

'Waiting for Catilin?' Crovell looked horrified. 'But...?'

'I know, but... Something's going on and SK's gone missing and... Well I thought this might be our opportunity to redeem ourselves,' Jay grinned at her. 'I wasn't totally sure how we were going to find you, but I guess now I don't have to worry too much about that. What are you doing here anyway?'

'Somebody's after my baby Jay and I didn't know where else to go for protection.'

'All the more reason for us to redeem ourselves I guess,' Jay folded his arms and lowered his head.

'Redeem yourselves,' Covo somehow managed to choke the words out, 'what do you mean by redeem yourselves?'


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Without hesitation Mokuba made his way back towards his brother's office. Weird thoughts were starting to form inside his head. Thoughts which didn't make a whole lot of sense, but made his hands sweat and his heart pound sickeningly in his chest. His hands were almost too sweaty to grip the door handle of his brother's office and for half a second he thought maybe that was the reason it didn't open. Then he tried two or three more times and it became very apparent the office had been locked.

'Seto?' Mokuba threw some of his weight behind him as he tried to force the door open. 'Seto are you okay in there? Seto what's going on? Let me in Seto. Please let me in.'

A part of him was starting to give way to panic. He didn't know if he believed his brother was in on this or not, but he did know he was genuinely afraid his brother's life might be in danger because of it. As he continued to fight to get the door open Duke appeared beside him to help. Between the two of them they started ramming at the door, but to no avail. It wasn't going to budge until it wanted to budge and it was just that simple.

'Let us in Seto,' Mokuba fought back the confusion of tears pressing against his tear ducks. 'Please big brother, let us in.'

* * *

'No,' SK crammed his hands over his ears, 'get out of my head.'

_'You don't have the power to fight me off SK,'_ Kaiba's voice seeped inside his mind. _'I have access to the Pure's powers, remember?'_

'But how, I don't understand.'

_'I told you, I've taught myself to use them. Something that dog Wheeler and that coward Yugi haven't figured out yet. They're a part of us, which means their powers are a part of us too.'_

'Stop forcing your thoughts inside my head,' SK got to his feet, lowering his hands as he did.

_'But how else am I going to control you?'_ Kaiba smirked. _'Now, pick up the knife,'_ he tossed the weapon towards his cousin.

'Wh-what...?' SK gawked at him as he struggled to stop his body from following the orders it had been given.

_'I said pick up the knife.'_

As SK helplessly did as he'd been instructed the door to the office began to rattle. The sound was accompanied by Mokuba's desperate cries for his brother to open the door.

'Right on time,' Kaiba's gaze flicked to meet with his cousin's. 'Don't you just love it when a plan just comes together like this?'

'What exactly are you planning?' SK shook his head. 'I don't understand any of this.'

'You're not meant to,' he lowered his head slightly. _'Now come at me with the knife.'_

'No,' again SK fought tirelessly against his own body's desires to obey the telepathic command. 'I won't be some pawn in your twisted little game Seto.'

_'You don't have a choice. Now attack me.'_

'No,' he struggled to resist, 'I won't hurt you Seto. You can't make me hurt you.'

_'Oh yes I can and I will. You can't resist me forever SK, now attack me.'_

'No,' even as SK said the word he could feel his resistance slip.

Against his own will he charged at his cousin and within half a breath he had the knife at Kaiba's throat. Just as he did the door to the office burst open behind him. There was a mad scramble, followed by the strong grip of someone's arms around his own, desperately pulling him away.

_'Fight against them,'_ Kaiba mentally ordered, _'make it seems like you want to kill me.'_

SK gritted his teeth and tried not to give in to the silent command, but he knew it was useless. A trickle of blood appeared on Kaiba's neck and a part of SK was absolutely terrified that his cousin had some kind of mental death wish. Fortunately for him his own assailant eventually managed to pull him back and slam him hard back down into the chair.

_'Continue to struggle.'_

Again SK was helpless to resist as he found himself fighting against Duke. It was at this point he realised that although Kaiba was controlling his body he wasn't controlling his voice. If SK could somehow explain to the others what was really going on maybe his cousin would relinquish his control. The situation might have looked bad, but the reality was even worse; after all Kaiba had clearly lost his mind. The others needed to know what was going on, they had to know, but first of all he had to get them to listen to him. He took a deep breath in and forced out the first words which came to mind.

'SK kill Seto.'

The sound of his own gasp was enough to shock him into a stunned and motionless silence. The words which had come out of his mouth had indeed been the ones which had come to mind first but they weren't the ones he'd intended to say. Truth was he didn't even know why they'd been in his head at all; far from making him look innocent they only aided in the misleading deception that he was still being controlled by the Scarna. His eyes flicked towards the elder of his two cousins, who looked strangely smug.

_'You didn't honestly think it would be that easy,' _Kaiba's voice sounded inside his mind, _'did you?'_

* * *

Mai wasn't totally sure why she'd allowed him to cage her like this; she just knew this was how things were meant to be. Just like she knew her being here served some kind of greater purpose even if none of them were totally sure what it was yet. She didn't know if it was the rain or the Fabled Truths she'd read or what, but she did know her fate was tied to his somehow. That their connection was destined; although how that destiny was to play out hadn't been written yet.

'It's funny, isn't it?' He broke the silence between them. 'That we're connected to all, but bound to one.'

'What?' Mai frowned at him. 'Wait, are you talking about the Mistresses?'

'Of course,' he folded his arms and leant against the bars of her cage. 'We're both parts of Win, you and me Mai. That means we're connected to all three Mistresses, but for some reason we're each bound to different ones.'

'What do you mean by _bound_?'

'You read from the Fables, didn't you Mai? Don't tell me you didn't read the passage which explains what we are; what makes each of us so uniquely special and so unstoppable when together.'

'Most of what I read had to do with the child,' she shook her head.

'Pity, I think for a moment I actually liked the idea of you knowing more than you should.'

'I do know more than I should, just not about the area you wish I did Tristan,' Mai tried to sound more confident than she felt. 'So tell me, what exactly do you mean by _bound_.'

'Win was created as a combination of all the Mistresses powers, abilities and personality traits, both those they shared and those which were unique to them.' Tristan gave a weary sounding sigh. 'We are all parts of Win, but we are not equal parts. Different traits and powers have gone into each of us, some which we all share to different degrees, some which we don't. It's these differences which _magically_ bind us to different Mistresses.'

'Okay, but you still haven't really explained what it means to be _bound_ to a Mistress,' Mai cocked an eyebrow.

'It means magically we're tied to them; connected by invisible forces which will ultimately decide our loyalties.'

'You make it sound like the Mistresses are about to go to war or something.'

'Things need to change Mai, that's what all this is about. The child is merely an instrument to bring about change; ultimately it will be up to the Mistresses to make sure change happens. But the First's apathy will never allow her to act, that's why the Pure needs to take control.'

'I guess that means she's the Mistress you're bound to,' Mai tilted her head to one side. 'But my loyalty lies with Joey and since Joey host's the First I guess that means she's the Mistress I'm bound to, so you know I'm not going to let you hurt either of them, right?'

'Why do you think you're in a cage Mai?' Tristan's gaze met with hers. 'I might not have expected you to become as clued up as you are, but I did know you could be a problem for us. The First loves you, whether she realises it or not, so you're just about the only thing which could force her into acting. And right now I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. But I do know I'd much rather have you where I can keep an eye on you; especially since you know about the child.'

'And the child is the key to everything, right?'

'Exactly and the only Mistress I want using that key is the Pure.'

'Because you're bound to her or because you love her?' Mai studied him for a moment.

'Things are wrong Mai, don't you see that? The Pure can bring about the changes needed to correct everything, the First can't. Even if I wasn't already bound to the Pure I would bind myself to her for that reason.'

'Are you trying to say love has nothing to do with this?'

'Why are you even asking me that question?'

'Because it doesn't matter how much more powerful than me you are, if you're connection to your Mistress is just based on your power alone then you're never going to defeat the First.'

'What makes you say that?'

'You said it yourself,' Mai lowered her head, 'the First loves me, therefore I'm the only thing which would bring her to action. Without love your connection to your Mistresses is nothing but a predetermined binding; a set of handcuffs tying you together but not helping either one of you become all you can be.'

'When did you get so wise?'

'The one entry in the Fables I did read about Win,' Mai smirked, 'it told me I needed to start listening to my heart, because all my strength comes from there. And every inch of that strength belongs to the First.'

'Shame your accessing the wisdom of Win just a little too late,' Tristan shook his head. 'If this had come to you sooner you might have gone looking for the First instead of waiting around for me to capture you.'

'Maybe, but you weren't exactly intending to take me, were you? Haven't I messed up your plans just a little bit?'

'We'll see,' Tristan smirked, 'we'll see.'

* * *

'Well, are you going to tell me or what?' Covo stared at her. 'What exactly is it you need to be redeemed for?'

'You don't even know yet and already you hate me,' she turned away from him.

'No I don't.'

'Yes you do, I can tell by your tone of voice.'

'I...' Covo hesitated before giving a heavy sigh. 'Sorry, I don't mean to sound so wound up about this, I just don't understand. Crovell you're one of the kindest, most gentle souls I've ever met, how can you need to redeem yourself for anything.'

'Because I was evil Covo,' Crovell hung her head.

'Evil,' an involuntary laugh of disbelief escaped him, 'you don't honestly expect me to believe that, do you?'

'It's the truth. I was evil.'

'And I was the King of China,' he shook his head, 'Crovell I can't believe for a second you were evil.'

'But she was,' a familiar voice sounded from behind him, making him jump, 'we all were.'

In disbelief Covo turned to see the Silkoneon queen stood like a guilty child with her head lowered and her feet turned ever so slightly in. Several choked noises escaped him as his brain searched for something... anything he could say.

'I... I don't understand... how...?' Covo shook his head. 'How is this possible? How can you honestly stand there and tell me this is real?'

'The darkness grew and grew inside of me,' Catilin tilted her head to one side, 'and as it got bigger and stronger it reached out to find those like itself. When it did it made them grow and grow too. The darkness was old and powerful and strong and we all gave into it. Me, Jay and Ahna, we all gave into the darkness when we should have resisted. We should have kept fighting no matter how strong it was, but we didn't. We gave into the darkness. We gave into evil.'

'This... this has to be some kind of sick joke,' Covo found himself backing away from them. 'I can't believe this. I won't believe this. It's just not possible.'

'I wish with everything in me that was true Covo,' Crovell lowered her head. 'But we were evil... I was evil and now I fear that same evil which controlled me is after my child. Or worse. I have to protect my baby, you understand that, right? I have to protect my baby and to do that I need your help. Please Covo; please don't hate me for what I've been. Please, I need your help.'


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

_'You can't do this to me Seto,'_ SK glared at his cousin as he focused his thoughts towards him. _'I will find some way of letting them know what's really going on here.'_

_ 'Good luck with the vocabulary I'm leaving you with,' _Kaiba's voice sounded through his mind, _'the Scarna might be gone, but as long as I'm controlling your mind your vocabulary will be limited to the same childlike idiocies you were before.'_

_ 'You won't get away with this Seto.'_

_ 'Who said I was trying to get away with anything cousin? I'm simply trying to buy a little time.'_

'Let SK go!' SK gritted his teeth and focused his attention on Mokuba. 'SK no do it. Let SK go.'

Kaiba might have thought he had the upper hand right now, but that didn't mean SK wasn't going to do everything in his power to let the others know what was really going on. No matter what it took, no matter how idiotic he sounded, SK wouldn't give up until he got his message across; although he couldn't be sure if it was to save them from Kaiba or Kaiba from himself.

'Let SK go. SK not bad. Seto bad.'

'Is it wrong to want to gag him right now?' Mokuba's face crinkled with pain. 'How'd he get lose anyway?'

'Tristan,' Kaiba turned from them, 'I guess he wasn't as zoned out before as the Mistresses thought. He came in just now and... did something; I'm not sure what. But it forced the Pure back and brought me out again. I was trying to figure out what was going on when he set SK on me. I... I just can't believe he would do something like this.'

'What do you mean you can't believe it?' Téa frowned at him. 'You say that like you think you know him or something?'

'The Pure can't believe it,' Kaiba waved a dismissive hand, 'she thinks she knows him because of that Win guy or something. I guess I'm a little more influenced by her than I thought.'

'Maybe,' Mokuba appeared to study his brother closely for a few moments, 'so where is Tristan now anyway?'

'He left,' Kaiba picked up the discarded knife before making his way to the chair behind his desk.

'Did he say anything to you before he left? I mean, I honestly can't believe he's done this after everything...'

'Mokuba, don't,' Kaiba cut him off, 'I'd rather not think about that right now.'

'I'm sorry big brother; I guess I judged the situation all wrong.' Instantly Mokuba's face took on a more sombre expression and he lowered his gaze.

'Well neither one of us will make that mistake again,' Kaiba clasped his hands together as he sat down.

'So where do you think Tristan would have gone?'

'How the hell should I know?'

'Seto lie!' SK forced himself to interrupt. 'Seto know. Seto lie.'

'What?' Mokuba gave a nervous laugh as he turned to face him.

'Seto lie. Seto know. Seto lie.'

'What's he talking about big brother?' Mokuba flicked his attention back towards Kaiba.

'Tristan told him to say it,' Kaiba shrugged, 'I guess he figured SK would get caught again and wanted to find some way of isolating me from the rest of you so he could try again or something.'

'Seto lie,' SK shook his head. 'Master no tell SK, Seto tell SK.'

'Shut up,' Mokuba pressed his hands against his ears, 'shut up or I really will gag you.'

SK gritted his teeth and remained silent as he tried to figure out some way of letting the others know he wasn't being controlled by Tristan anymore. Not that it was going to be easy considering he was still being forced to call Tristan master. If only there was some way of changing that...

'This could be bad,' Duke interrupted his train of thoughts, 'what if he goes after Joey and Yugi next?'

'You don't think he'd hurt them, do you?' Téa stared at him.

'You're asking me if I think the guy desperate enough to get Kaiba's own cousin to try and kill him would hurt two of his best friends, I think the answer is pretty obvious,' Duke pressed a hand against his jacket pocket. 'Let's face it Téa, this is not the Tristan we know.'

'Yes but maybe he's brainwashed. We've dealt with brainwashed friends before and brought them back before any real damage was caused, we can do it again.'

'I don't think he's been brainwashed Téa, I think he might have genuinely lost it. I think the awkwardness of the situation he was in... realising he was in love with the Mistresses... knowing they would never love him back, especially after they were in the bodies of his friends... I think it drove him over the edge.'

'But that doesn't mean we can't save him, right?'

'I wish I knew, but right now...' Duke shook his head. 'Right now I think Tristan might be a little psychotic. I'm seriously considering bringing out the straightjackets here.'

Mokuba, Téa and Duke were so engrossed in their conversation none of them noticed the dangerous look which appeared on Kaiba's face as he played with the knife. His glare focused in on Duke's back and with every disparaging word which came out of his mouth the look on Kaiba's face darkened.

'That might not be such a bad idea,' Mokuba lowered his gaze.

'Do you know something we don't Mokuba? Something which might help us?' Téa turned towards him. 'Because anything you say might help us save Tristan.'

'I'm not so sure we should be trying to save Tristan, Téa,' Duke shook his head. 'I think its everyone else we need to worry about.'

Kaiba got to his feet, but the dramatic gesture was lost on the others. Only SK saw what was coming and in one final attempt to prove who's side he was on he managed to force out the only words he could.

'Seto, no!'

But it was too late, his cousin had the knife to Duke's throat and all conversation ground to a halt.

* * *

For a few long minutes Covo just stood there staring at her. A strange, almost hysterical laugh of disbelief escaped him as he tried to work out just how serious they were being. His gaze circled round their serious faces and the full weight of the situation crashed into him.

'You were evil?' Covo's gaze met with the woman he now knew was called Ahna. 'You expect me to believe you were evil?'

'I... I'm sorry,' she lowered her gaze. 'I never wanted you to find out, not like this.'

'So this... this is why you were pushing me away all this time?' He stared at her. 'I don't understand...'

'It's complicated,' she sighed, 'but I promise you I'm good now. That's why I'm allowing myself to be punished without complaining.'

'And why you sacrifice human companionship so you can dwell in your own misery?' Covo took a step towards her and grabbed hold of her arms. 'You think persecuting yourself like that will make up for giving into evil somehow?'

'I... I know it's not enough but...'

'You're right it's not enough, how could you keep this from me?'

'Because I was trying to keep you from me,' Ahna's eyes brimmed with tears. 'Covo please don't hate me. I couldn't stand another good person hating me. I know I've pushed you away, kept you at arm's length, but your constant belief in me has allowed me to believe in the good inside me again. Don't you see I need that? I need someone to believe that I'm good so I'll believe it again. It's been so long... so long since anyone has thought I was good, I can't lose that, not again, please Covo.'

'That's a pretty selfish reason to keep me around,' he backed away from her, placing a hand over his mouth as he did. 'You should have told me who you really were.'

'You're right, I should have,' she nodded, 'and I know I've ruined everything because I didn't. But I need you Covo, we all do.'

'You need me? You need me how exactly?'

'We need you because you care,' Catilin chewed her lower lip nervously. 'We need you because you're good. Because you've never given into the darkness.'

'So you want to corrupt me then?' Covo shook his head. 'Is that it? Is this all some ploy to get me to give into evil?'

'We would never... _I_ would never do that do you Covo,' Ahna took a step towards him. 'Believe me; I would never put you through what I went through. The turmoil. The inner battle between good and evil. The complete loss of yourself. I would never put you through anything like that.'

'None of us would,' Catilin nodded, 'but that doesn't mean we don't need you.'

'Yeah, but I don't need any of you,' he turned away from them. 'What's to stop me from just walking away from all this?'

'Your heart,' the words bleated out of Ahna.

'What about my heart,' Covo glanced back towards her.

'I know in your heart you want to help us, because you care... about me.'

'I love you Ahna,' his body trembled with emotion, 'but I'm not sure I can even stand to look at you right now and maybe that's a good thing. Maybe that's my out. My way of walking away from all this. Because I don't need any of it. And right now I'm not even sure I need you.'

'I know,' she lowered her gaze, 'I know I have no right to ask you to help us, but I... I want to prove to everyone I'm good now. That I deserve to be the one raising this child. Please Covo, if you really do still love me at least think about staying to help us.'

'I'll think about it, but if I decide to leave...'

'No one here has the power to make you stay Covo,' she lightly touched his arm. 'If you chose to leave then you can just leave.'

* * *

'So if separately we're each supposed to have our own allegiances, what would happen if we were ever to join together again?' Mai studied Tristan from the confines of her cage. 'Individually we're nothing compared to what we're capable of together, right? So if we were to reform Win...'

'We would return to being bound to all three,' Tristan finished for her.

'And our individual thoughts and desires, what would happen to those?'

'The strongest would win out.'

'So in other words, if one part wills something more than the other parts will the opposite...'

'If you're trying to ask if I'd be able to sway our combined force with my own desires, then you would be right. But not because I will it more than any of you might will the opposite, but because I'm currently the only one of us who understand what it means to be a Win part,' Tristan met her gaze. 'I'm also the only one who understands what it means to be Win. You and Mokuba barely registered that experience, but I did. That's why I'm the one who'll do what needs to be done no matter what.'

'What needs to be done,' Mai rolled her eyes. 'You think deposing the First _needs_ to be done?'

'Your loyalty to Joey blinds you to her incompetence Mai, but we are talking about the person who twice failed to contain the darkness within Catilin. Do you really think she deserves to be in charge?'

'I think maybe she underestimated the threat a little, that's an error in judgement sure, but it's no reason to depose her.'

'It is when you understand why she made the error in judgement she made Mai,' Tristan smirked at her. 'The First and Joey both have this huge blind spot for Catilin, you must have noticed it.'

'Yeah, and?' Mai narrowed her gaze on him for a moment.

'There's a reason for that blind spot and a good one too, not that it matters, because as long as she doesn't realise it's there she's helpless. They both are. Unfortunately for all of us it's exactly what apathy gets you.'

'I'm not sure I understand.'

'If there are no questions Mai how do you expect to find answers?' Tristan smirked. 'Because the First failed to question her own blind spot she was unable to see the truth slapping her hard in the face. How can someone like that be trusted with ruling the multiverse?'

'And you think the Pure will do any better because...?'

'The Pure knows when to act; she's just always been stopped from acting by her sisters. Take away her sisters control and things will run much more smoothly. Don't you get it Mai, if the Pure's in control everything will change.'

'And everything needs to change, right?' Mai cocked an eyebrow.

'Now you're finally starting to get it Mai,' Tristan focused his gaze on her, 'there may still be some hope for you yet.'


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

'Uh...' the Face of Friendship stared down at the entry in front of her, before glancing across at her sister.

'Is something wrong?' The First's eyes lifted from the Fabled Truth's scroll to stare at her.

'It's... the Scarna.'

'What?' The First frowned.

'The thing controlling SK, it's the Scarna, it has to be. Anything else would have left a notable trace of some kind.'

'You have to be mistaken,' the First turned her gaze back towards her scroll, 'this Realm never had any Scarnas.'

'That we know of, but Scarnas are just another form of Reama Tech, right?'

'Yes, in the realities they come from Scarnas are just another form of Reama Tech, but they don't exist in this Realm, they never have.'

'So maybe someone found a way of sneaking them across,' the Face of Friendship bit her lower lip. 'It is possible, right?'

'Possible maybe, but it's just not very plausible. Keep looking little sister, there has to be another answer there somewhere.'

'Maybe, but... I definitely think it's some kind of Reama Tech.'

'Why?' The First shot her a look.

'No magical signature. Whatever's controlling SK is leaving no magical signature, that's a Reama Tech trait and we both know it.'

'So it's Reama Tech,' the First shrugged, 'that doesn't make it a Scarna. Keep looking little sis, like I said, there has to be an answer there somewhere.'

'Yeah,' she sighed and stared back down at her scroll, 'there does.'

* * *

Mokuba had known something wasn't right. From the very beginning he'd known something had been wrong with this whole situation, so why hadn't he trusted his instincts? Probably because his instincts were telling him something about his brother he really didn't want to hear. And now Kaiba had a knife to Duke's throat and it was all Mokuba's fault for not mentioning his suspicions to someone sooner.

'You're supposed to be the one he trusts?' Kaiba broke the tense silence. 'You? The one who can't seem to bad mouth him fast enough. You're the one he trusts? What Tristan is doing he's doing for the greater good.'

'Does that include trying to have you killed?' Duke's words were surprisingly calm and steady.

'Please, that was little more than a distraction for them,' he smirked. 'A way of keeping them occupied just long enough so we could get everything we needed. But you had to go on and on slandering Tristan as though you have the slightest idea what's really going on here. He trusted you above everyone else and you've betrayed that trust. Trust you didn't even deserve to begin with.'

'Don't tell me you're jealous?' Duke gave a strained laugh.

'This has nothing to do with jealousy and everything to do with loyalty. The way I see it you don't even know the meaning of the word.'

'Seto…?' Mokuba took a step towards his brother.

'We weren't sure if we were going to need you now or not,' Kaiba focused his gaze on his brother. 'You were part of the original plan, but taken out of later editions. I didn't really want to go back to including you yet but I guess we don't have much of a choice here, do we? I can't exactly have you go running off to warn the First.'

'I wouldn't...' Mokuba shook his head. 'I... I don't care what's gotten into you Seto, I'd never betray you.'

'Good,' he lowered his head for a moment, 'get the rope and tie Téa and Duke up to the radiator for me.'

'Okay.'

'Mokuba?' Téa gawked at him. 'Tell me you're not serious.'

'I don't think he can do that Téa,' Duke sighed as he allowed himself to be led to one of the office's radiators. 'I think he knows as well as I do that neither Tristan or Kaiba are thinking rationally right now. If he doesn't help them they might hurt us.'

'There you go talking down about us again,' Kaiba shook his head, 'do I need to gag you to get you to shut up? Or worse, I'm pretty sure I could do worse. I do have a knife with me after all.'

Duke pressed his lips together and said nothing. Instead he knelt down and allowed himself to be tied up.

'Good, now Téa next,' Kaiba indicated.

'Right,' Mokuba did as he was told.

Duke was right, the only reason he was going along with this was because he was afraid of what his brother was capable of. As he tied Téa up he noticed his brother doing something to his left eye, when he turned back he spotted the fact it was now brown.

'What...?'

'With the Pure's powers down neither of us could change it back,' Kaiba placed the contact he was holding down on the table. 'But I think the looks kind of suits me, don't you?'

'No,' Mokuba took a step back from him, 'no I don't and... and I think it's affecting your mind.'

'Don't tell me you're going to start spouting the same nonsense Duke is, are you Mokuba?' Kaiba shook his head. 'Because it's really not going to do you any favours,' he took hold of his brother's arm. 'I'm sure he's not going to be too thrilled about this, but hey, plans change. And since everything needs to change anyway, what does one more little thing really matter?'

* * *

Covo had headed towards the main entrance to think. He stood leant against the door frame staring out into the never ending rain. A part of him felt as though he'd overreacted just a little bit to their revelation; after all they didn't tell him how evil they'd been exactly, only that they had been evil. And just what classified as evil anyway? For all they knew what they'd done hadn't really been all that bad...

He felt like he was trying to kid himself somehow. If their crime had been bad enough for them to have their powers blocked then they'd been pretty damnably evil. Or at least had done something pretty terrible whilst under the influence of evil. Either way it didn't exactly look good for them. Covo gave a heavy sigh and took a few steps out into the rain. Something about it felt weird; like a strange insistent kind of buzzing which just got stronger and more determined with every passing second. Confusion fizzled its way through his soul as he stared straight up into the sky and winced against the heavy, ice cold drops as they battered against the skin of his face.

'What is with this rain?'

'That's what we want to find out,' Catilin's voice made him jump.

He turned to see her tugging at the skirt of her dress as she stood just inside the shelter of the doorway.

'I thought I told you I needed time on my own to think.'

'You did,' she took half a step towards him, 'I'm sorry; I know I should let you but... We need you.'

'Well at least you're honest about that,' Covo took a few steps towards her. 'Between the three of you your powers are extremely limited and even if I'm not incredibly powerful for a Silkoneon I'm still more capable than any of you right now.'

'Yes, you are,' she nodded, 'that's why we need you. But that's not the only reason why we need you. Three is a magic number, but four is a powerful one. That's what the Fables told me. Everything the Fables showed me lately has something to do with four being the powerful number. Four being needed. Four being strong. I didn't get it till I got here and counted and then I knew. To do bad we needed to be three, to do good we need to be four.'

'Uh...' Covo stared at her for a moment, 'you're saying you think I'm destined to work with you because of the Fabled Truths? You know they're just a bunch of fairytales, right?'

'They're more than that Covo, like this rain is more than just rain. You can feel it right? The importance of this rain. You can feel how special it is, can't you?'

'Yeah,' he held his right hand out and watched a small pool of water gather in his palm.

'Then you can believe the Fables are more than just stories, right? That they're Truths too. Truths which have happened, which could happen or which just haven't happen yet. You can believe that, can't you?'

'I guess I can,' he flicked his gaze up towards her.

'So you will help us then?'

'If destiny says I must then what choice do I have?'

'There's always a choice Covo, destiny is just a story waiting to be written. And until somebody carves it into rock it's not set in stone.'

* * *

SK waited until his cousins had disappeared before taking a deep breath in and attempting to talk again. He didn't know if Kaiba's control would still be in effect with him not in close proximity, but if there was even a chance he had to take it.

'Seto... bad,' the words were followed by an instant growl of frustration.

SK knew the Pure was powerful, but he hadn't quite expected Kaiba to be this powerful. After all he was just ciphering off the Pure's power, right? So he could only be as powerful as she was allowing him to be, which meant there was still a chance he could get around her control somehow. Gritting his teeth together SK willed up every single drop of strength he had in him.

'Seto... and Tristan are... working to... together...' was as much as he managed to get out before a strange wave of exhaustion hit.

'Really,' Duke rolled his eyes, 'I could never have guessed.'

'Don't be like that Duke, I think it took him a lot of effort to get that sentence out,' Téa flicked her gaze between the two of them.

'Yeah, I could tell that too,' Duke sighed. 'But what I don't get is why.'

'Seto is... Seto is con... controlling me.' SK licked his lips.

'Well I got that, what I meant is I don't get why Tristan and Kaiba are working together. Did he say anything to you?'

SK took a deep breath in and tried to gather his thoughts. He may not have known exactly what was going on inside his cousin's head, but he did have a fairly good idea as to what this all might be about.

'The Pure... and... and Win... are... are working with... with them t... too.'

'Wait, working with them or controlling them?' Téa frowned. 'Because that guy who was in here with us just now didn't act a whole lot like Kaiba.'

SK shook his head and shrugged; talking was too much effort to attempt answering questions he didn't have answers to. For a few moments there was silence.

'Maybe the way he's acting has something to do with his left eye still being the wrong colour,' Duke frowned in thought.

'But I thought Joey said the Involuntary Flip or whatever it was he called it didn't have that much of an effect on the Pure's personality.' Téa shook her head.

'But we're not talking about the Pure's personality here; we're talking about Kaiba's. What if it's affecting him because it wouldn't normally affect her.'

'That doesn't make a whole lot of sense Duke.'

'I... I disagree,' SK licked his lips as he almost panted the words out. 'Bring Pure Kaiba together.' The second he said it he made a loud noise of frustration and attempted to try again. 'Maybe it...'

'Maybe the Involuntary Flip brought Kaiba and the Pure's personalities closer together and is acting as a kind of bridge between the two of them?' Duke finished for him.

'How...?'

'I was starting to think something similar myself, remember? The Involuntary Flip doesn't normally affect the Pure because it's normally _just_ the Pure who experiences it. But if Kaiba can tap into the Pure's power and the Involuntary Flip is connected to some kind of power surge on the Pure's part then maybe it somehow blurred the line between the two of them.'

'So you're saying we're not dealing with the real Kaiba here?' Téa cocked an eyebrow.

'I'm not sure if that's quite the right way to look at it, but yeah, we're dealing with some kind of Pure-Kaiba hybrid.' Duke paused for a moment, before focusing his attention on SK. 'Hey, you're dead, aren't you SK? That makes you like some kind of ghost, right? So can't you just pass through those restraints?'

'It… it doesn't… doesn't work like… doesn't work like that.' SK licked his lips and shook his head.

'Shame,' his face took on a more thoughtful expression, 'what about Jumping, could you Jump out of them?'

'Out... out of them... no. With them... with them y-yes.'

'Well that really wouldn't do you a whole lot of good, unless you can take yourself to exactly where the First and the Face of Friendship are.'

'Would... would take a... a lot of... of energy and...'

'And you might not be able to explain to them what was going on before they assumed you were a threat,' Duke sighed. 'Well I guess it's better for all of us if we just stick together for now then.'

'So we're just going to sit here and wait for Joey and Yugi to get back then?' Téa rolled her eyes.

'I don't really see what other choice we have right now Téa.'

'Neither do I, but that still doesn't make me feel any better about it.'


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

'So are you actually going to go after the child or not?' Mai leant against the back of the cage and began examining her fingernails. 'The storm isn't going to wait for you, you know? It's rapidly approaching its height, I can sense that from here and as you pointed out I'm nowhere near as powerful as you are. This has to be driving you crazy about now, doesn't it?'

'Everything in its time Mai,' Tristan smirked, 'if we don't play things exactly right everyone will know what we're up to.'

'Everyone will know what you're up to soon enough anyway, so what difference does it make?'

'How can you understand so much yet comprehend so little?' Tristan shook his head. 'We know what we're doing and it's not like anyone else is after the child right now.'

'And it's essential the child is in your hands and your hands alone, right?'

'A child with the power to change everything, an opportunity like this doesn't come along very often Mai, why would we give anyone else the chance to take it from us?'

'You wouldn't, but you're running out of time now, aren't you? Are you sure your delays don't have something to do with me?'

For a moment Tristan just smirked at her, then he lowered his head and folded his arms in an oddly calm manner.

'The child won't be born during this storm unless the mother is with us, that I can be sure of,' he flicked his gaze up to meet with hers.

'What? I don't understand, Mov said this child was meant to be born now, the mother must be full term already, right?'

'Wrong,' Tristan laughed, 'that's why we have to be patient and let things play out the way they're meant to. It's not just the height of the storm we're waiting on, if we rush things we might miss out on other opportunities. Besides, it's only a matter of time now she comes to us.'

'Comes to you?' Mai frowned. 'I don't understand.'

'You're not meant to Mai,' Tristan shook his head, 'you're not meant to.'

* * *

'So how much trouble do you think we'll be in if we're caught together like this?' Ahna's eyes idly examined the corridor around them.

'Depends on if we get caught before or after we've managed to redeem ourselves,' Jay shrugged.

'Well at least I can honestly say I didn't intend on bumping into you and Catilin. I came here looking for Veronie,' she wrapped her arms around her waist. 'That... nightmare I had...' she shuddered.

'A nightmare which made you come running here,' Jay's face filled with a thoughtful look, 'I'm starting to get the feeling that's what somebody wanted.'

'What makes you say that?'

'I don't know,' his thoughtful look turned into a frown, 'I just get this weird feeling about it all of a sudden. Where were you before?'

'The Temple of Mov.'

'No wonder I couldn't work out where you were,' Jay sighed. 'Temples are magically protected you know, you were probably safer there than you are here.'

'I know, but...' she hesitated. 'Something made me feel like even the Temple wasn't safe enough; like I had to come here.'

'Something wanted to drive you out into the open you mean, so to speak of course.'

'I... I never thought of it like that,' she squirmed. 'I guess coming here wasn't such a good idea after all.'

'Coming here was a great idea Ahna, because now you're with us you have a fighting chance of protecting your child.'

'But you just said the Temple was probably safer...'

'Yeah, but that's no guarantee. If whoever it is behind all this managed to get a nightmare through the magical protection of a Temple that probably means they'd have found a way to pluck you out of there eventually too. Driving you into the open was probably just so no one would notice you were gone.'

'But even so...'

'Don't fret so much on it Ahna, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise.'

'You shouldn't make promises you can't keep.'

'Who says I can't keep this one?'

'Because we're powerless and whatever's threatening my baby clearly isn't.' Ahna bit her lower lip. 'I get this bad feeling we're about to walk into a trap.'

'Then we walk into it,' Jay pulled himself up to his full height, 'and we turn it against them.'

* * *

For the longest time all Mokuba could really do was stare at his brother through the bars of the cage he was in. Apart from the change in the colour of his left eye Kaiba didn't look any different, but the way he was acting couldn't have been further removed if he tried. Mokuba may not have known a whole lot about the Pure, but from what he did know his brother wasn't acting like her either.

'It's like somebody's created a hybrid,' the words were out of Mokuba's mouth before he could stop them.

'What was that,' Kaiba stopped painting the strange symbol to the back of the room's door and glanced towards him.

'You... you're acting like some kind of hybrid,' Mokuba gave a nervous cough. 'Like something halfway between my brother and what I know of the Pure. I think that eye of yours is affecting you whether you agree with me or not.'

'We have considered the possibility,' Kaiba went back to his painting. 'But it's just as likely that this is a part of my personality I wasn't aware of before. Something the Pure brought out in me when she decided to _improve my lack of faith_. Not that it makes much of a difference why I'm acting this way; all you need to know is that no one's forcing me to act like this. Everything I've done or will do has been through my own free will. I've chosen this, don't forget that.'

'I thought you said you hadn't exactly planned on taking me,' Mokuba pulled a face.

'I hadn't and I could still have left you behind, but eventually we would have come for you. Taking you now isn't exactly ideal though, not with everything else going on. And just in case you were wondering, these symbols will make it hard for anyone to sense where you are,' he indicated to the one he'd painted on the back of the door, along with the other similar midnight blue symbols he'd painted across the rest of the room. 'Of course all this wasn't exactly intended for you and it should have been finished last night, but since we'd changed back to their plan by then I didn't really see the point. I may move you later if I decide we do need you sooner rather than later, but until then...'

'You're just going to leave me here?'

'What other choice do I have?' Kaiba shrugged. 'It's almost time and I have to get to him now. It'll all be fine, you'll see. Things will be different afterwards, but they need to change, right? It'll be okay Mokuba,' a strange smile pulled across his face, 'everything will be okay.'

* * *

'You think we're going to be waiting here long?' Duke's eyes scanned the room.

'For Joey and Yugi to get back you mean?' Téa glanced towards him. 'I hope not, but who really knows. I just still can't believe Kaiba and Tristan are working together, it's crazy.'

'I don't know, it does make some kind of weird sense,' Duke pressed his lips together. 'I mean, you more than anyone have mentioned more than once just how much like Kaiba, Tristan has been acting. And we all know the only person Kaiba would ever want to associate with is himself, so...'

'So the fact the two of them have teamed up shouldn't surprise me?' Téa rolled her eyes. 'I'm sorry, but I don't really buy that. This situation just doesn't make any sense no matter how you try and look at it.'

'I... d-disagree.' SK licked his lips.

'Does that mean you know why they're acting like this?' Téa turned her attention towards him. 'Because right now I'm pretty much clueless.'

'Just... just a... a theory.'

'Care to share?'

SK responded to her question by shooting an impatient look in her direction.

'Sorry, I know talking's difficult for you right now, but anything you could tell us might help.' Téa shot him a sympathetic smile.

'Or if nothing else it might save us a little time when Joey and Yugi get back,' Duke shrugged.

'Too much... too hard,' SK shook his head.

For a few long moments there was silence. Duke used the time to think about the envelope still burning a hole in his pocket. It was more than possible this was the kind of situation Tristan had intended it to be opened for, if only he could get to it.

'I wonder how the two of them teamed up to begin with,' Téa interrupted Duke's train of thoughts. 'I mean, was it before or after Tristan got back from wherever it was he's been all these months.'

'That's actually a pretty good question,' Duke tilted his head in thought. 'But I can also think of several other better ones right about now.'

'Like what?'

'Like why they had SK go after Kaiba if they had no intention of letting him die.'

'Distraction,' SK licked his lips. 'Seto said.'

'Yes, but why threaten Kaiba's life to do it? Surely there were other ways of distracting Joey and Yugi. Why did it have to be like this? Unless they needed you out of the way as well.'

'Make sense.'

'But again, why? Why use this method of distracting everyone? It's a little extreme isn't it?' Duke pressed his lips together. 'It's like they're trying to get everyone so focused on them that nothing else matters.'

'So you think this is about something else then?' Téa frowned.

'Or maybe it's about someone else. I don't know; I just get this feeling like something's about to happen, something important. Something they don't want anyone else knowing about.'

'So they distract everyone in a way which makes them pretty much the only focus and then what, they carry out their real plan without anyone around to stop them?' Téa shook her head. 'Because I'm pretty sure carrying on the way they are Joey and Yugi pretty much _have_ to stop them regardless, don't they?'

'Maybe they want to be stopped,' Duke felt a strange sensation move through him as he thought about the envelope in his pocket again.

'Why would they go to all this trouble if they want to be stopped?'

'Change,' SK licked his lips. 'They... they want... want things to... to change. M-maybe...'

'Maybe whatever it is they're trying to conceal will bring about change regardless as to whether or not the rest of their plan succeeds,' Duke filled in the blanks. 'They want to be stopped because they're not the real issue here, but stopping them will allow whoever or whatever it is stand a chance of succeeding where they fail.'

'Yes,' SK nodded.

'But that still doesn't make a whole lot of sense,' Téa sighed.

'Maybe not to you,' Duke lowered his head slightly, 'but it feels to me like things are starting to slot neatly into place.'

'Yes,' SK licked his lips as a worried look spread across his face, 'too neatly.'


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Covo let out the deep breath he was holding and stared around at the others. A part of him still couldn't believe he'd agreed to help them. But at the same time something felt strangely predestined about it. Maybe Catilin was just turning pretty words into a convincing lie before, but that didn't change anything. Whether this was predestined or not he was stuck with the situation now, for better or for worse. And besides, none of this had changed his feelings for Ahna as much as he would have expected. If anything now that he was over the shock of her revelation he wanted to protect her even more than he had before.

'So what exactly do we know?' Covo pressed his lips together and tried to sound more confident than he felt.

'Well we know for one thing SK left the heavens unguarded,' Jay folded his arms.

'And SK is...?'

'Right now all you need to know is that he's someone who shouldn't have left the heavens,' Jay sighed. 'But beyond that...'

'We also know this has something to do with Ahna's baby,' Catilin stuck her chest out a little. 'Mai said Mov had told her that. Or at least she hinted about it.'

'Wait, Mov knows I'm pregnant?' Ahna swallowed hard.

'Of course Mov knows your pregnant silly, Mov controls all births, remember? I don't think Mai knows whose baby it is though,' Catilin's face pulled into a thoughtful expression, 'and I'm surprised it's yours because yours isn't ready to come yet.'

'That doesn't mean it won't,' she wrapped her arms around her bump, 'children are born early all the time. Although I must admit this seems a little too early.'

'So maybe somebody knows some magic or something to make the birth happen faster,' Catilin tilted her head to one side, 'which means we really need to protect ourselves somehow.'

'The only question is how,' Jay frowned, 'most of my powers are inaccessible without SK around to _allow_ me to use them.'

'Isn't that what I'm here for,' Covo forced himself to speak.

'No offense, but one mid-class Silkoneon isn't really going to account for much if we're up against someone with real power here.'

'What about the Crovell armoury?' Ahna bit her lip.

'The what?' Covo stared at her, suddenly wondering if he'd made another serious misjudgement about her.

'Look I know it's a little strange for Silkoneons to have their own armoury, I mean we are pacifists after all,' she gave a nervous laugh, 'but the Crovells have always traditionally patroned Du and Sta, the Gods of War. So one of my ancestors... actually the first Crovell of my line... crafted this beautiful sword and shield as a way of honouring those two gods. From there it just kind of built up, with each generation adding something of their own to the armoury.'

'So the Crovells had their own secret legacy,' Catilin smiled strangely, 'way cool.'

'But there's more, another of my ancestors created this set of eight weapons which he believed the gods had instructed him to craft.' Ahna tilted her head to one side. 'According to the story he had this dream about a set of weapons, exactly like the ones he would go on to create, being passed down to the gods from the Mistresses. Only the gods were careless with them, which caused them to decay one by one until none of the weapons were left. Not wanting to let the Mistresses know the weapons had been destroyed they sent a message down to a mortal to recreate the weapons and then keep them somewhere safe so they wouldn't decay again.'

'That's an interesting story,' Jay cocked an eyebrow at her, 'I can't say me or Octan have ever come across anything like it.'

'Yeah, well I don't know if the story is true or not, but I do know the weapons are special,' Ahna pressed her lips together. 'You see each weapon was infused with a different kind of Elemental Magic during its creation.'

'Wait, you mean...?'

'The Elemental Weapons,' Catilin clapped her hands, 'they're one of the Fables.'

* * *

Mai was starting to get more than a little bored; surely Tristan should have run off to grab his target by now. It wasn't like he had to wait for someone to babysit her because she was pretty certain she wasn't going to get out of the cage she was in on her own. And even if she could get out of it, she didn't really want to. The child was too important for her to be anywhere else and even if she wasn't totally sure what her role in all this was, she knew she needed to have a role in it because she was needed to change the ending. That's what the spirits had told her and that's what Mov's visit had proven. Or at least that's what she had to keep telling herself.

Truth was her place in any of this was pretty uncertain. That uncertainty had been eating at her from the moment Tristan had taken her... No, it had been longer than that. Her uncertainty had started when her soul had been switched with Mokuba's. From that moment on her place in the world, her reason for being, everything about her existence had become confusing. It didn't matter that the former owner of her soul had told her everything was as it was supposed to be, that she was special or whatever, Mai still felt like the life she was living didn't really belong to her. It was a feeling she just couldn't shake no matter how hard she tried.

She was just about to engage Tristan in conversation in order to take her mind off of her own self-doubting train of thoughts when Kaiba entered.

'Wow,' the word was out of her mouth before she could stop it the second she spotted Kaiba's left eye.

'Are we collecting them now?' Kaiba smirked slightly. 'Only I've got Mokuba in our little chamber.'

'Why?' Tristan narrowed his gaze on him for a moment.

'Necessity,' he shrugged, 'which I'm guessing this is also.'

'Right,' Tristan folded his arms.

'The storm will be reaching its height soon. If we were still working to his plan it would be _her_ and not my brother in that cage about now. Is she at least on course still?'

'Yes, she is,' a devilish smile pulled at his lips, 'and she's not alone either.'

'Well _their_ plan was always more viable from this point.' Kaiba half turned away from him. 'Are they on route to the weapons?'

'They are, but...'

'But?'

'We were only anticipating two of them, there's a third.'

'Someone capable of stopping us?'

'No.'

'Then why worry,' Kaiba glanced back towards him, 'it's not as if they're not playing into our hands right now.'

'Yes, but it's not as easy to track her location or encourage her movements from up here as it would have been from down there and this unknown complicates matters further.'

'You didn't have to cage Mai you know.'

'Like you said, it was a necessity,' Tristan shrugged, 'and if the plan changes we change with it, right? Because change is important.'

'Things have to change,' Kaiba nodded, 'and we have to be the ones to make it happen.'

* * *

'Well it's about time you guys showed up,' Duke rolled his eyes as Joey and Yugi, both still with white glazed eyes, entered. 'We were starting to contemplate chewing through our binds, but considering half of them our metal we figured the damage to us might be greater.'

'What the hell happened here?' Joey's multi-tonal voice toned with confusion.

'Kaiba happened.'

'What?'

'Whilst you were gone Kaiba, or at least some kind of Pure-Kaiba hybrid, took back over from the Pure and did this.'

'But why?'

'Because he's working with Tristan.'

'What?' Joey focused his gaze on Duke. 'Please tell me you're not serious.'

'Why would the Pure allow something like this to happen?' Yugi glanced towards Joey.

'Because, for whatever reason, she wants it to happen. You know the Pure; she wouldn't allow a host of hers to act this way unless she was orchestrating it somehow.'

'So then maybe it is a Scarna controlling SK,' Yugi folded his arms. 'The Pure would be able to get hold of one of those easily.'

'This doesn't make any sense,' Joey shook his head. 'What is she up to?'

'Ch-change,' SK forced the word out. 'The-they w-want ch-change. To... to br-bring about ch-change.'

'What kind of change?' Joey flicked his gaze towards him. 'What do you know about their plan?'

'About as much as the rest of us do right now,' Duke sighed.

'But he's working for them, isn't he?'

'Not anymore, at least not totally.'

'So then why is he still talking like that?'

'Telepathic control,' Yugi rolled his eyes, 'can't you sense it?'

'So then the Pure really is behind this.'

'N-no,' SK licked his lips, 'Seto. Seto did... did this, not... not the... the Pure.'

'Maybe it was made to look that way, but it's just not possible,' Joey shook his head, 'our hosts don't have access to our powers.'

'Seto does.' SK's tongue skated across his lips again. 'Seto fi-figured it... it out. He... he said... he said the... the other h-hosts just... just haven't... haven't tried.'

'Uh,' Yugi stared down at his hands, 'that's why he became an empath and why he was so heavily affected when my powers were disrupted.'

'I just figured his powers were affected by mine; that he was affected by me,' Joey frowned. 'I didn't for one second think he could actually access my powers, not without my express permission.'

'Clearly we were wrong.'

'No, what's wrong is the fact you haven't untied any of us yet,' Duke rolled his eyes again.

'Sorry,' Yugi threw him a sheepish look before untying him and Téa.

'Well it's about time,' Duke rubbed his wrists as he pulled himself to his feet.

'Let SK go.' SK licked his lips again as his eyes focused on Duke.

'Right,' Duke made his way towards him, 'hey is there any way of giving him his normal level of speech back?'

'Not if this is the Pure's work,' Joey shook his head, 'or even if this is just the Pure's powers at work.'

'But I thought you were more powerful than her.' Téa frowned.

'I am, but I'm not a telepath,' Joey pressed his lips together. 'We don't share all of our abilities you know. I mean, I can heal people when the other two can't, whereas the Face of Friendship is an empath and the Pure is a telepath. Because these abilities are unique to each of us we can't undo each other's magic in these areas. Although I must admit I've never known her to use it in quite this way before.'

'I wouldn't be so quick to say that,' Yugi pulled a face, 'she has used her telepathy to win arguments before. I know it's not quite the same thing, but...'

'So you guys have arguments like normal sisters then?' Téa studied Yugi for a moment.

'Of course we do. Just because we're the most powerful beings in the multiverse doesn't mean we're not first and foremost sisters.'

'I've never really thought of you like that before, err...' she gave a nervous laugh. 'I mean, I'm just so used to you being these powerful beings at the back of my friends' heads that I never really thought of you as anything else. Sorry.'

'For what, you're just being honest with us. And you're right, from your perspective we are little more than... parasites I guess.'

'I didn't mean...'

'I know, but in a way it's how you feel; especially since my empathy causes Yugi so much pain.'

'I... uh...'

'This is all irrelevant,' Joey cut them off, 'we need to figure out what they're up to.'

'Other than wanting to change things you mean?' Duke turned towards him.

'I still say this has something to do with whatever happened three months ago,' Téa folded her arms. 'You know, the bit you're not telling us.'

'What makes you say that?'

'Win,' SK licked his lips. 'Seto... Seto mentioned... Seto...' he made a noise of disgust as he failed to get the words out.

'Well that confirms the imprint I felt on the scrolls,' Yugi sighed, 'Win is definitely involved in this somehow.'

'Who exactly is this Win guy?' Duke frowned.

'He was our husband,' a strange look appeared on Yugi's face. 'We thought we lost him a long time ago, but apparently he found a way to come back. Although he's not exactly complete, the largest part of his essence exists within Tristan.'

'So Tristan really is in love with you then, but...'

'We currently look like his friends,' Yugi nodded, 'yes; I can understand how this whole situation would be very confusing for him. It would explain why he's acting out.'

'But it doesn't explain why Kaiba's going along with it.'

'I know my sister will hate me for saying it, but I don't think Kaiba is,' he lowered his gaze. 'The Pure loved Win more than anything. She would do anything for him, including manipulating her own host.'

'I think you're right,' Joey sighed, 'the Pure is a fool to her own emotions, she always has been.'

'So we may really be dealing with some kind of Pure-Kaiba hybrid here?' Duke glanced between them.

'It's more than possible,' Joey pulled a face, 'and that really doesn't sit well with me.'


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

The longer Mai was in the cage, the more she felt the effects of the heightening strength of the storm in the world below them. Every ebb and flow of power which moved through the air became real and solid for her. Things which may have been too subtle for her to pick up on before were suddenly in glaring and surreal Technicolor. But that wasn't the only thing she was picking up on. The latent Win powers she held inside of her were slowly awakening.

The most notable of these powers was a diluted form of empathy. It was strange, but it wasn't until she realised what it was that she noticed how much she'd been affected by Tristan's emotions when it had just been the two of them. The cool, calm and reserved attitude she'd maintained throughout their conversation had been more down to her channelling him then it had been to do with what she was feeling. It was an almost unsettling realisation to make, but she wasn't about to let them know that.

As the storm heightened her powers further, Mai began to pick up on the subtle levels of emotions the two boys were experiencing. Their individual worries and excitements began to paint an interesting tapestry for her. A tapestry embellished by their interactions with each other and the tones hidden within their conversations. It didn't take her long to realise she knew more about the nature of their relationship than they did. Or if they were aware of these subtle undertones they were doing everything in their power to pretend they weren't there.

Mai was pretty certain the self-denial was something they both needed, but in the end it weakened them. She wasn't sure if the thought made her sad, uncomfortable or relieved, but then as the storm continued to heightened her empathic ability she became less and less certain of what it was she was feeling. It made her appreciate just how difficult being an empath must be for Yugi and she was glad that when the storm died away her abilities would dilute back down to a much more comfortable level.

'Shouldn't you get the child soon?' Mai leant against the bars of the cage, not totally sure where the question had come from. 'The storms not going to wait much longer.'

* * *

'Elemental weapons?' Covo frowned. 'I've never heard of them.'

'Not many people have, it's one of the Fables the Ashmars like to keep a secret because they're afraid the weapons will decay again.' Catilin tilted her head to one side.

'Everyone is,' Jay folded his arms and lowered his head slightly, 'although up there we were just told the original weapons were sent down to Sil to stop them from decaying, not because they had decayed and needed to be recreated.'

'I still don't get it, why would the gods send the weapons to Sil to stop them from decaying.' Covo shook his head.

'Because Sil is a mortal plane and the gods can't set foot here. According to the stories we were told, the weapons started to decay because the gods where unable to set foot on the mortal planes and the Elemental Weapons were made for use on the mortal planes.'

'No, that's not it,' Catilin pulled a face. 'The weapons were designed to be close together, but splitting them up too much they just broke down and poof.'

'Wait, are you saying that it's the Mistresses fault and not the gods?' Jay frowned.

'Uh-huh. But maybe they didn't know it would happen.'

'Or maybe they did,' Jay lifted his right hand to his mouth and thoughtfully bit on his forefinger, 'what if the Elemental Weapons were leftover from the original universe? What if they reminded the Mistresses too much of Win.'

'Wait, sorry, what?' Covo stared at him. 'Original universe? Win? What are you talking about?'

'As much as you're going to hate me for saying this Covo, right now it really doesn't matter.' Jay refolded his arms. 'I'd like to know a little more about the weapons,' he turned towards Ahna.

'I don't know a whole lot about them myself,' Ahna pressed her lips together. 'Traditionally the Crovells position themselves within the Ashmar household and although we are one of the few families to have our own ancestral home, we don't use it all that much. It's mostly used to create and house our armoury along with teaching our children about our... secret legacy,' she sighed. 'Since I didn't have anyone to teach me personally, everything I've learnt has been through the scrolls my predecessors left me. But I haven't actually had a reason or opportunity to set foot inside the armoury up till now.'

'So, what, you can't even tell us what they're called?'

'No, that I can do,' Ahna smirked, 'well, their translated names at least, because those were easier to memories.'

'And they are?'

'Arial Blade, Fire Bow, Lightning Sword, Spirit Lance, Earthen Shield, Ice Staff, Kinetic Dagger and Water Whip.'

'Very cool,' Jay laughed, 'well the Dagger and Sword are mine, I can tell you that now.'

'That's fine by me, Cat?'

'So long as I get the Bow I'm happy,' Catilin nodded, 'I always fancied myself an archer.'

'We're dividing up weapons now,' Covo buried his face in his hands, 'I can't believe we're dividing up weapons now. Am I the only one who remembers we're supposed to be pacifists here?'

'I'm not Silkoneon,' Jay shook his head, 'and if that's the way you feel about it make sure you're the one with the Shield.'

'No way,' he scowled, 'if anyone gets the Shield it should be Ahna, she is pregnant after all.'

'Are you kidding?' Ahna laughed. 'The Staff and Whip are mine; I've had them earmarked since I first read about them. To me they just sound like the coolest,' she half blushed and lowered her head. 'Maybe we should get going now.'

'Agreed,' Jay nodded.

'This is going to be fun,' Catilin clapped her hands together.

'I'm still not sure about this,' Covo turned. 'Something just doesn't feel right. I can't explain it, but it's almost like I can sense trouble.'

'Please don't tell me you think we're trying to trick you into being evil,' Ahna took a step towards him. 'I don't know what else I can do to convince you...'

'It's not you Ahna,' Covo shook his head, 'it's just... I can't explain it, but something feels wrong.'

'It's the rain,' Catilin placed a hand on his shoulder, 'everything feels wrong because of the rain. It's affecting everybody. But we can't do this without you. There's too many weapons for just the three of us to use.'

'I know, but that just makes me feel even weirder about this situation. It's like someone's forcing you to take on a fourth whether you really want or need me around. That doesn't sit right with me. It's like... it's like we're walking into some kind of trap.'

'Then we'll walk into it,' Jay shrugged. 'Better that than continue on in the purgatory we're already in. Ahna needs her powers back in order to protect her child; you have to agree with that if nothing else, right?'

'I do, but... You guys are already in a lot of trouble, what if someone's just using you to land you in even more.'

'Then we'll have you to tell the powers that be our hearts were in the right place even if our heads were not,' Jay grinned. 'Come on Covo, don't be such a wuss, we need you.'

'I know you do,' Covo sighed, 'and that's what really worries me.'

'Then just stop worrying,' Catilin linked arms with him and began dragging him towards the front entrance of the Southern Palace. 'Worrying means thinking and thinking means obsessing, which means even more worrying and no action. No action means nothing happens and if nothing happens then Ahna won't get her powers back and won't be able to protect her baby. And this is all about the baby, right?' She glanced back towards the other two who were now following them.

'Right,' Jay nodded, 'how far is the Crovell place from here?' He turned his attention towards Ahna.

'It's about a five minute walk in the direction of the Northern Palace,' Ahna's face filled with a weak smile. 'Thank you for sticking with us Covo, you have no idea how much this means to me.'

'Oh I think I've got a pretty good idea exactly how much this means to you,' Covo swallowed hard.

'Thank you,' Ahna dipped her head slightly.

Covo gave a heavy sigh and just allowed himself to give in. What was the point in trying to fight the situation anymore? It was clear even if he really wanted to leave, there was just no way he'd be able to. The three of them worked like a concise and perfect little tag team and it wasn't hard to see just how devastating they could be if they were both evil _and_ still had their powers. It was no small wonder they'd been separated. But even so a lot of his misgivings about them were starting to fizzle out now. Okay, so maybe he was convinced something would go wrong somewhere down the line, but it wouldn't be because of them that much he was certain of.

His eyes moved towards Ahna as the four of them hurried through the rain towards the Crovell family home. She was just as beautiful and innocent as she'd been when he'd first laid eyes on her. It didn't matter to him she'd been controlled by evil in the past, he could sense her heart now and he knew there was only good inside of her. So what if she wasn't the delicate little flower he believed her to be, she still needed him and that's what mattered. Covo could feel his heart swelling with strong feelings of love as the rain quickly made her look weak and pathetic; she needed him. She needed him to protect her, not just from whatever threat was currently out there, but from herself too.

It didn't take them long to reach Ahna's ancestral home. The second they entered Ahna lead them towards a large sealed door at the back of the main room. She then disappeared to retrieve the key. Or at least that's what Covo assumed, he wasn't totally sure why she left because none of them had said a word since leaving the grounds of the Southern Palace. As he waited he took the time to study the inside of the room they were in. It was a large, open space, with very little in the way of furniture or homely touches. There was, however, a giant furnace at one end, along with several work benches and what Covo could only assume were metal working tools.

'Here,' Ahna threw a towel at him the second she returned, 'I don't mean to be pedantic about this, but I'd rather you guys didn't drip water all over my family's armoury.'

'Ah...' Covo squirmed a little as he realised a small pool of rain water had formed under him in the time he'd been stood waiting, 'thanks,' he started drying himself off best he could.

The other three did the same with the towels Ahna had retrieved for them. Once they were all reasonably dry Ahna produced a key and made her way towards the sealed door. Behind the door was a reasonably sized room with shelves filled with an assortment of weapons. In the centre of the room was a large glass case containing the eight most beautiful objects Covo had ever seen. A weird sound of amazement made its involuntary way out of him as he made his way into the room and towards the case. He never thought anything could make him feel like this, it was just so...

'This is the first time I've been in here,' Ahna's voice was strangely breathy, 'I never even had the time to think about exploring my inheritance before... Reading about this place... about those weapons just isn't the same.

'They're so pretty,' Catilin placed a hand against the glass. 'I didn't think they would be so pretty.'

'Well that's definitely one word for them.' Jay laughed. 'Shall we?'

'It's a magical barrier,' Ahna pressed her lips together, 'one which uses Elemental Magic, so right now only Covo has the power to open the case.'

'At least now I see why you need me.' Covo folded his arms.

'Covo...'

'Sorry, I didn't mean that the way it sounded,' he sighed.

Without waiting for anyone else to say or do anything else, Covo closed his eyes and held his right hand towards the case. He then focused his mind on taking down the barrier. He wasn't totally sure what he was supposed to do exactly, but he figured if he focused for long enough something would click.

'Yay,' Catilin clapped her hands, 'you did it.'

Her words made Covo open his eyes to see the glass case had completely vanished. A part of him couldn't help but feel proud of himself; he'd not exactly been taking advantage of his Elemental Powers since he'd arrived on Sil, so to know he could actually use them to good effect was strangely rewarding.

'Alright guys, time to suit up,' Jay grinned and he moved towards the weapons.

It didn't take long for each of them to pick up the weapons and position them comfortably enough for travelling. For a few long moments Covo found himself examining the Shield and Lance he was now holding. They made him feel bizarrely powerful, but at the same time...

'I feel kinda silly carrying this,' he admitted to the others.

'But you look way cool.' Catilin grinned as she made a few practice swipes with the blade whilst the bow hooked over her right shoulder. 'I feel like a kid with a new toy.'

'You are a kid with a new toy,' Jay laughed as he brought his sword to meet her blade.

Without warning a whirlwind of air swept round Catilin and she was lifted off her feet.

'What the…?' Catilin blinked as she was slowly lowered back to the ground.

'Now that's cool.' Jay's grin widened.

'You're telling me,' Covo felt himself start to latch onto their excitement.

'This is why I thought they would be useful,' Ahna beamed. 'The weapons can form a substitute for mine and Cat's missing powers.'

'Ahna you are a genius,' Jay made a theatrical bow towards her, 'even if I do say so myself.'

'This is way cool Ahna,' Catilin skipped towards her, 'Jay's right, you are a genius.'

'Thanks,' Ahna blushed a little.

'So now what?' Covo stared round at the others.

'Now we find whoever's threatening my baby,' she puffed her chest out, 'and we show them why that was a big mistake.'

* * *

Mokuba sighed and took a seat on the floor of the cage he was in. There was no doubt in his mind now the person who'd locked him in here was not really his brother, but that didn't make it hurt any less. Especially not when he couldn't figure out why Kaiba and Tristan were doing this. He knew they'd had a lot of contact over the last few months; that this wasn't some spur of the moment thing the two of them had come up with since Tristan had arrived back in town, but the why still eluded him.

What he did know was that locking him up like this wasn't part of their current plan, even if it had at some point been a possible part of one of their plans. That was if Mokuba understood what Kaiba had told him correctly. This not only suggested the idea their plans had been altered more than once, but that both of them were more than willing to adapt to any changes which were thrown their way.

'But why,' Mokuba sighed as he stared around the cage he was in, 'if they've been planning this for months like I think they have, surely any changes to their plans would be detrimental not an asset. So why was Seto treating it like it really didn't matter.'

'Because they're just trying to distract right now,' the sound of her voice made him jump.

'What...? Who... who are you?' Mokuba stared at the woman half hidden in the shadows of the room.

'I'm not sure my name will mean much to you my little friend,' the woman step forward, revealing herself to be breathtakingly beautiful, 'but if you would like to know it then I shall tell you.' She paused for a moment, tilted her head to one side, before locking her eyes with his and smiling strangely at him. 'My name is Mov and I am the youngest daughter of Du and the Face of Friendship.'

'I see,' Mokuba wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that, 'but I didn't think the gods could walk on the mortal planes.'

For half a second she hesitated and Mokuba was certain something flickered around him. Then she gave a slight laugh and held her hands in a way to indicate he should take another look at the room.

'I didn't come to you Mokuba, you came to me,' she smiled strangely at him, 'take a look around.'

Mokuba did as he was told and instantly found an involuntary gasp coming out of his mouth. The room looked almost exactly like the one he'd been in, symbols and everything, except the walls here were white and not grey. In the dim light he hadn't noticed the change, but now it was all he could see.

'Why...? How...?'

'The symbols, the cage and the gloom moved with you because I was aiming for them.' Her words were quick and almost dismissive. 'Truth is I wasn't sure what was in that room, but I was afraid they were trying to hide something from me. Finding you was purely coincidental, but no doubt fated as well.'

'Does that mean you're going to let me out?'

'Yes my little friend,' her eyes locked with his, 'I suppose it does.'


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

SK was starting to feel strangely tired. He didn't know if it was a side effect of the Kaiba's control over him or something which had been subconsciously programmed into him, but either way it was starting to make the whole idea of communicating a real drag. Still there were things he needed to get across, so as much as it pained him to do it he had no choice but to try.

'SK think storm not good,' he made a slight noise of disgust at himself, before sighing and just accepting this was how he had to talk now.

'You think this storm is a bad thing?' Yugi frowned at him.

'Power make things crazy,' he tilted his head to one side. 'Seto, Tristan, power,' he made sparking gestures with his fingers and hoped the others would follow his train of thoughts.

'You think they're acting this way because of the storm,' Joey folded his arms. 'It is possible I guess, but even so, what's the point to any of this?'

'Maybe they're trying to depose you,' Yugi pressed his lips together. 'It wouldn't be the first time the Pure's made a power play.'

'Yes, but the last time she only did it because she was emotional and upset because of Win's...' Joey trailed off before shaking his head. 'She may not always agree with me, but she understands I need to be in control for a reason.'

'Yes, but she also thinks things need to change,' he half turned away, 'more so now than ever and her feelings on the matter are a lot stronger than you might think. If this storm is magnifying everything then maybe...'

'Why can't my baby sister just accept her place in all this?'

'Win,' SK licked his lips, 'both acting,' he sparked his hands again, 'remember?'

'If Win's personality and traits aren't divided equally amongst the hosts it is possible that the Pure is taking advantage of Tristan's need to change things.' Yugi tilted his head to one side.

'So the storm starts just as Tristan rocks back into town and magnifies his craziness which in turn sparks off the Pure's craziness which means she's then influencing him whilst he's influencing her?' Duke cocked an eyebrow. 'Is that really the logic we're trying to go with here?'

'Whatever the truth its time my sister and I confronted them,' Joey flicked some of the hair out of his eyes, 'it's the only way we're going to resolve this.'

'Great,' Téa grinned, 'we'll help.'

'I don't think so,' he shook his head, 'you and Duke are both powerless and SK is useless to us in his current state. The three of you are to stay here.'

'But…' Téa began to protest, but before she could get any further Joey and Yugi had disappeared. 'I can't believe they're leaving us out again. Tristan's our friend too; we should be able to help him.'

'But it's not Joey and Yugi going to help Tristan,' Duke shook his head, 'it's the First and the Face of Friendship going to help their sister and Win. It really doesn't have anything to do with us,' he began fiddling with something inside his breast pocket.

'Duke think something help?' SK licked his lips, then growled at the nonsensical nature of his statement.

'Hm?' Duke frowned at him.

'Duke think know something?' He tried again. 'Something might help?'

'I... uh...' Duke hesitated for a moment, before pulling an envelope out of his breast pocket. 'Tristan gave this to me; he said I was only to open it if something happened to him.'

'And you haven't opened it yet because?' Téa cocked an eyebrow at him.

'Honestly, I'm a little afraid of what it might say,' he stared at it. 'What if I read what's written and it doesn't explain anything or worse, what if it explains everything.'

'How would knowing everything be worse than knowing nothing?'

'I don't know; I just... get this really weird feeling about it. Tristan trusts me to know when to open it and right now I don't feel like it's the time.'

'Then let me open it,' Téa took the envelope off of him, 'problem solved, right.'

'Wrong,' SK took the envelope off of her as his tongue skated across his lips. 'Tristan say Duke know then Duke know,' he attempted to hand the envelope back to Duke who hesitated as he reached for it.

'SK you should open it,' Duke's words sounded dry. 'It's not as though you can really tell us what it says right now and at least this way you'll have more of a clue what's going on. Téa and I don't need that yet because there's really not a whole lot we can do regardless of what we know. But you... you could really do with this information right now.'

'Okay,' SK nodded, before taking a deep breath in.

His hands trembled slightly as he opened the envelope. Duke was right, whatever was in here could explain everything or nothing and either way it was just as bad. At least in the not knowing you could speculate safely without worrying too much. SK swallowed hard as he pulled the document out of the envelope and scanned over it. A deep frown pulled its way across his face and he found himself scanning the document a few more times before giving it a more in-depth reading just to be sure he wasn't losing his mind. A numb feeling moved through him as he folded the document back up, placed it inside the envelope and handed it back to Duke.

'Well?' Téa stared at him. 'Does it explain everything or not?'

'The... the s-storm...' SK licked his lips again as he tried to force a full sentence out, 'the... the s-storm didn't... didn't make... make them crazy.'

* * *

Mai's insides felt as though they were trapped on some funfair ride, whilst the rest of her was still on solid ground. The longer Kaiba and Tristan remained where they were instead of going after the mother the worse the feeling became. She couldn't understand it. They knew as well as she did that the height of the storm was fast approaching, so why were they being so calm about it. What did that know that she didn't?

Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore a strange smile appeared on Kaiba's face and he took a step towards the entrance of the chamber they were in.

'They're coming.'

'They're coming?' The weight of the words felt heavy inside of Mai's mouth as though she had no idea what they meant. 'You mean... all this time... the mother was coming to us?

'I would have liked to have guided her here,' Tristan smirked, 'but it was never really necessary. She would have come no matter what, because how else could she do what's best for her child.'

'You think giving the child to you is what's best for it?' Mai tried to shake the fuzzy feeling she was filled with.

'You'll agree with us too when you find out who the mother is,' he shrugged.

'Why, who is she?'

'Patience Mai, you'll find out very soon,' Tristan's eyes focused on the entrance.

The sound of voices echoed down the corridor outside. Mai could tell from the way they were getting louder that the owners of the voices were quickly approaching. For a moment a deep frown formed on her face, then she remembered what Kaiba and Tristan had said about the mother not being alone. The fuzzy cloud which hung over her brain lifted slightly as she sensed a great power approaching with the group. A power which resonated out of the weapons each of them were holding when they finally entered the room. But despite this it wasn't the weapons Mai found herself focusing on.

'Catilin? Ahna? Jay?' The words fell out of her mouth before she could stop them. 'But… but… but…'

'Mai,' Catilin took a step towards her, her eyes filled with the confusion of a little girl.

'I don't believe this,' Jay focused his gaze on Tristan and Kaiba, 'you're the ones after Ahna's baby? You're what we're here to stop?'

'And you just walked yourselves right into a trap,' Kaiba chuckled. 'We knew with SK out of the way you wouldn't be able to resist the chance to redeem yourself. You're so predictable.'

'We already figured this might be a trap,' he pointed his Sword towards Kaiba, 'why do you think we came prepared?'

Kaiba laughed again and reached a hand towards him, within seconds Jay was struggling to stand upright. It was a battle he quickly lost as he was brought down to his knees.

'Did you really think those weapons could stand up to us?' Tristan took a step towards him, flicking his hand to one side in order to telekinetically disarm Jay. 'Those weapons were made for us, both when we created them originally and the recreations Ahna's ancestors forged.'

'We never intended for the gods to have those weapons long term,' Kaiba lowered his head slightly. 'My sisters and I knew exactly what would happen to them, but we also knew it needed to be done. How else were we going to get the weapons down to the mortal plane without our children kicking off?'

'And now you've brought them back to where they belong,' Tristan folded his arms, 'how very noble of you.'

'I won't let you hurt Ahna,' the fourth member of their group, the young man Mai didn't recognise, took up a position in front of Ahna and held the shield out in front of him.

'Covo don't be a fool,' Ahna placed a hand on his shoulder, 'you're not dealing with normal mortals right now. One of them is the host of the Pure.'

'What?' Covo glanced towards her. 'You're kidding, right?'

'Does she look like she's kidding?' Tristan lowered his head slightly.

'Uh...'

Before the boy identified as Covo could say anything else, Tristan used the same telekinetic technique to disarm him that he'd used on Jay. He then refolded his arms as a smug look filled his face.

'We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way,' Kaiba took a step towards them. 'But either way that child belongs with us.'


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Mokuba's own lack of nerves surprised him. He wasn't totally sure how he was meant to act around a goddess, but the fact he wasn't even slightly intimidated by her said a lot. The second he was out of the cage he began to explore the little room they were in. It was true it looked a lot like the one he'd been in before. It was the same size and shape and thanks to the symbols it had the same feel to it, but that wasn't all.

'What book is this?' Mokuba made his way towards the only table in the room.

'I'm not sure,' she shrugged callously, 'it came with the room.'

'I see...' Mokuba half pulled the book towards him.

It was leather bound and from its battered appearance it was clearly well used. More than well used, the edges were singed with what appeared to be fire damage and the leather stained and marked by various unidentifiable things. There was a distinct smell to it too, musty around the edges with an almost barbeque-like aroma. Whatever this book was and wherever it had come from, it was clear it had been through a lot to get here.

'The Fabled Truths,' Mokuba fingered what was left of the gold embossed lettering on the front.

Most of the letters were now little more than indentations on the cover, but they still carried a strange kind of significance to them. His eyes turned back towards Mov; there was a curiously unreadable look on her face.

'What did you say that book was called?'

'The Fabled Truths,' Mokuba kept his voice as level as possible, 'have you heard of it?'

'Heard of it,' she laughed, 'I've personally influenced more than one of the stories within it. But I don't understand,' her face took on a serious look, 'the Ashmar has that book.'

There was something about the way she was acting which made Mokuba feel uncomfortable. Something in the pit of his stomach told him she was keeping something from him. That she knew more about the situation than she was letting on. But then again she was a goddess and therefore she was allowed her secrets, right?

'Maybe they took it from her,' Mokuba glanced back towards the table. 'Maybe Catilin's in some kind of trouble too.'

'Maybe, but...' she crossed the room towards him in order to examine the book for herself, 'this is wrong somehow.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean this book not only shouldn't be here, but it also shouldn't look like this.' There was something almost over exaggerated about her concern. 'The Ashmar only recently copied the scroll out and has only just gotten round to having the title embossed on the front. This book shouldn't look like this.'

'But it does,' Mokuba ran his fingers around the edge of the leather binding, trying to ignore the disconcerted feeling in his stomach, 'what do you think that means?'

'I think it means this has something to do with my little visitor,' she pressed her lips together, 'the one determined to stop the birth of the child.'

'Birth of the child?' Mokuba found himself idly opening the book and flicking through some of the texts.

'Yes Mokuba, the child,' there was something lulling about her voice. 'Don't you know this is all about the child Mokuba?'

'I've heard that before,' he felt something strange shudder through his mind as he came to a stop on a page entitled _The Restless Spirits_. 'Kayma... is she... is she about to be reborn?' His eyes met with Mov's. 'Is that what this is all about? Kayma?'

'Maybe...' he felt as though Mov's eyes were staring right into his soul. 'But maybe this is about something else.'

* * *

'I don't believe you're the Pure right now,' Jay focused his gaze on Kaiba as he did his best to assess the situation. 'I've worked with the Pure for years and Octan has for generations. Between the two of us we know her pretty damn well and right now you're acting nothing like her.'

'But he's not acting like Kaiba either,' Catilin bit her lower lip as she continued to hold onto the handle of the Blade. 'Kaiba is moody and solitary and doesn't believe in friendship or working with people. He's scary,' she lowered her voice a little, 'but not scary like this.'

'She thinks you're scary,' Tristan laughed. 'This from the girl who mortalised the First.'

'What?' Covo's eyes went wide. 'What do you mean mortalised the First? You mean the First is hosted by someone as well?'

'All three of us have been mortalised and your little friends there are the ones you have to thank for it,' Kaiba lowered his head as an arrogant smile filled his face.

'I think I'm starting to understand why you're being punished a lot better now,' Covo ran his fingers back through his thick brown hair. 'Just how evil were you?'

'They were the original evil,' it was clear Tristan was enjoying this a little too much.

Covo let out a strange breath but said nothing. It was clear to Jay he was again struggling with his decision to side with them and he couldn't exactly blame him. After all, if Jay had a choice in the matter he wouldn't work with himself either, not after what he'd done.

'None of this matters,' Ahna broke the tense silence which had started to form, 'I want to know why you want my baby.'

'And the weapons,' Catilin bounced in place a little, 'you want the weapons too, right?'

'Clever girl,' Kaiba flicked his gaze towards her, 'did you figure that one out all by yourself or did us telling you give you a clue?'

'Wow, you are a real bastard like this,' Jay shook his head. 'Or maybe I should say bitch, because I'm not completely convinced you actually have any clue who or what you are right now. '

'Cute,' Kaiba glared.

'So are you going to tell us what you need the child and the weapons for or not?'

'Oh, so we're going to tell you just like that, are we?' Tristan laughed. 'Do you really think it's going to be that easy?'

'The bad guys never make it that easy,' Catilin unhooked the bow from her shoulder and took aim. 'We didn't.'

Jay had to admit he was impressed with just how good Catilin looked as she drew the bow back and fired an arrow in the direction of Kaiba and Tristan. As it flew through the air it caught alight, sailing clean through the gap between Kaiba and Tristan and penetrating the whiter than white wall behind them.

'You know, knowing what I know about you I was almost worried there for a second,' Tristan shook his head. 'But with aim that lousy you're really not much of a threat.'

'I wouldn't be so sure, look again.' Catilin nodded towards where the arrow had landed.

Jay smirked the second he spotted the small, dying black insect pinned to the wall. It filled him with a strange level of pride, not least because he'd been the one to teach her archery. Of course it helped that she'd excelled at it in a way which had gone beyond being naturally gifted, but even so...

'Impressive,' Kaiba focused his gaze on her, 'but just because you can use that little toy doesn't make you any more of a threat to us. You're still powerless.'

Kaiba swept his right arm in an arc in front of him, before flicking his arm forward in a sharp jerk. A shockwave of light energy then zoomed across the room, knocking Jay, Catilin and Covo off of their feet and back against the far wall. Before Jay had the chance to reel from the impact he found his arms and legs bound by chains. Six of the eight Elemental weapons now lay around Ahna, who had so far remained untouched by any of their attacks.

'That was fun,' Kaiba laughed.

'This isn't supposed to be fun,' Tristan shot him a look.

'I know, but that doesn't mean it wasn't.'

Jay watched as Ahna took several steps back. Her eyes were fixed on Kaiba and Tristan as though she wasn't sure what to do or say next. Tristan made a swirling motion with his right hand and the six discarded weapons formed an incomplete circle around Ahna. He then flicked his hand again, disarming Ahna and using the weapons she was holding to complete the circle. Almost instantly all the weapons in the circle along with the ground which connected their circumference turned a strange shade of midnight blue.

'I won't let you have my child,' Ahna wrapped her arms around her stomach.

'Your child,' Tristan laughed, 'that was never your child. From the moment of its conception that child belong to the First and Gan. It's their child Ahna. A child of change capable of both light and darkness.'

'A child of balance,' Jay swallowed hard, 'we created a child of balance.'

'Oh don't act like you didn't know,' Kaiba rolled his eyes.

'We did, but... I guess the reality never really hit home,' he lowered his eyes. 'After we were cleansed of the darkness I just assumed any influence Gan had over the child would have gone too.'

'Gan conceived the child you idiot, you can't just remove that or forget its there just because it suits you.' Tristan shook his head. 'But their child will be so much more than a balance, it will also be the multiverse's first mortal immortal.'

'What?' Jay frowned.

'Mortal immortal,' Tristan smirked. 'What's the matter Jay, never come across that phrase before?'

'Of course he hasn't,' Kaiba laughed, 'there's never been a mortal immortal before; if there had then this child wouldn't be the first.'

For a few moments the two of them shared amused smirks and allowed the information to settle into the others. Jay sucked a deep breath in and tried to figure out what all this could mean. In the back of his head he could feel Octan stirring with impatience, but there was just no way he was going to allow him to take control.

'What is a mortal immortal exactly?' Ahna's voice broke through the tension.

'Technically your child has four parents,' Tristan folded his arms and rolled his eyes a little, 'two mortal and two immortal. It makes it an oddity, not really belonging to the higher or lower planes and not really belonging to the mortal ones either. Because of that your child is not truly connected to the multiverse and because its not it will live forever.'

'There's more to it than that, of course,' Kaiba smirked, 'but unfortunately for you that's all the information you get right now.'

'No, let's be fair, there is one more piece of information they should know,' Tristan laughed, 'after all, it's the reason why we're doing this now.'

'Of course,' he focused his gaze on Ahna, 'you see the child you're about to give birth too will also inherit the heightened magical field created by this storm and it will be the most powerful being in the multiverse because of it.'

'So that's why you want it,' Ahna took another step back. 'Well I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not due for another couple of months and...'

Their almost manic laughter cut off the rest of her sentence. In the back of Jay's mind he could sense exactly what Octan was thinking and the thought frightened him more than anything else in the world.

'That's a spell circle,' the words dripped out of his mouth. 'That... that's a spell circle. They're performing a spell right now.'

'Wh-what...?' Ahna glanced towards him.

'Ahna look at yourself,' Jay swallowed hard as he forced himself to examine her. 'Your stomach, it... it's grown.'

'Ah...' her eyes went wide. 'How...? What... what's happening to me?'

'The child has to be born now Ahna, don't you understand that?' Tristan tilted his head to one side as Ahna cried out in pain and fell to her knees. 'The child has to be born now if it's to fulfil its full potential. This storm is only happening because the child is meant to be born now.'

'You... you mean I'm...' Ahna gripped her stomach as another cry of pain escaped her.

'Yes Ahna, you're in labour.'


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Helplessly chained to the wall Covo could only watch as Tristan and Kaiba Jumped Ahna and the weapons out of the chamber they were in. Sick feelings of anxiety began rolling around in his stomach and any doubt he'd had over whether or not he should be helping their group completely disappeared. So what if they'd been evil before, they clearly weren't the bad guys now.

'I'm sure they won't hurt her Covo,' Catilin shot him a weak smile. 'They need her or else the baby won't be born.'

'But what happens when the baby is born?' Covo shook his head. 'You can tell me that guy's hosting the Pure till you're blue in the face, but all I see right now is some insane stranger who is clearly capable of anything. As far as their concerned Ahna's presence is a negligible factor.'

'He has a point Catilin,' the woman in the cage gave a heavy sigh as she leant against the bars, 'the storms heightening everything and the two of them aren't completely rational right now. No, that's not fair, they're more rational than they might appear, but that's probably a bad thing.'

'It's because they're not quite one or the other right now,' Jay sighed.

'What do you mean?' Covo frowned at him.

'They're not the hosts and they're not the higher beings either,' he tilted his head to one side. 'They're like a weird blend of all the worst qualities. Or at least all the most irrational ones.'

'I'd agree with you on that one,' the woman in the cage nodded. 'But somewhere in that mess of irrational personality traits they're still managing to hold onto this plan I can only guess they've been working on for a while.'

'You think the two of them might have been in contact whilst Tristan was away Mai?' Jay frowned.

'They talked a lot about how their plans have changed and mentioned something about following someone else's plan for a while before going back to _theirs_. But if you ask me a lot of what they're doing right now seems completely trivial and irrelevant, especially with the end goal they have in mind.'

'And what is their end goal?'

'To use the child to put the Pure in charge of the heavens,' Mai pressed her lips together. 'They want to overthrow the First.'

'No wonder they've been running around causing so much confusion,' Jay shook his head. 'To be planning something of that magnitude you want to make sure everyone is off chasing shadows for as long as possible.'

'But it still doesn't explain everything they've done and I get the feeling there's more to their plan than that,' Mai pulled herself back from the bars for a moment. 'Tristan kept talking about how the Win parts are bound to different Mistresses and how he wasn't sure if he would need me and the other parts now or not. He also said if we were all to join together right now he would be able to overpower the desires of the rest of us.'

'Hold on a second, Win parts?' Covo stared at her. 'Now I'm just getting confused.'

'I guess now's as good a time as any to get you up to speed,' Jay rolled his eyes. 'It's not like we're going anywhere any time soon.'

* * *

SK was exhausted. More than exhausted. He felt as though every inch of his being were slowly being drained out of him. It wasn't just the talking thing which he was struggling with now. He felt as though every thought, every movement, every emotion was somehow being controlled by Kaiba and the Pure. The continual battle going on inside of him, whether real or not, was draining every last drop of his strength. He couldn't go on like this, they needed help. _He _needed help. There had to be something he could do.

Jay. The name rolled its way into his head as though it just had to be there. He still had jurisdiction over Jay's powers, which means he could bring Jay here if he wanted to. Jay could help them. Jay had to help them. The only problem was he wasn't sure he had the strength to bring Jay to them. Controlling someone else's powers was draining and if that someone else was somewhere on the fringes of SK's magical range then it might prove to be harder still.

But what choice did he have? They needed Jay there. Even if it took whatever strength remained, he had to try. Jay could be the key to saving them all, there was no other option, he had to try.

* * *

The sight of his image flickering and buzzing in and out like some degraded old film strip was enough to make Téa take several steps back. A strange feeling of fear circled inside of her as she remembered everything this guy had done and what he was truly capable of. It didn't matter how much of a threat he was in his current physically unstable state, the fact he could be a threat was enough to set Téa on edge.

'Jay,' SK took a few staggered steps towards him, clearly exhausted now.

'How…' Jay's image faded out, before blurring briefly back in, 'is this possible? What's…' his voice distorted so much the rest of the sentence was inaudible.

'SK… tried…' he collapsed.

'SK,' Téa tried to catch him, but he fell through her.

Téa jumped back from where she was standing and stared down at SK's now translucent body. A strange kind of horror, dread and sadness filled her as she tried to figure out if this was the end for him or not.

'What's…' Jay repeated, 'going…' his voice crackled, 'on?'

'I don't know,' Téa turned to him in confusion.

'I think this is SK's doing,' Duke pressed his lips together, 'but in doing so, I think he's totally burnt himself out.'

'Why…?' Jay faded out again only to have his return accompanied by a popping sound which cut his sentence short.

'I don't think it was a decision he took lightly. He must think that you're able to help us.'

'But Tristan… Ahna's… the Ele.. Mai, Cat, and… prisoner we need your… has to be a…'

'Stop!' Téa held up a hand towards him. 'We're only getting half of what you're saying. Start over.'

'Tristan… Ele… Mai… help…'

'We got even less of that.' Duke shook his head. 'I guess whatever it was SK was trying to do, he really didn't have the strength to do it properly.'

'Or maybe he was hoping one of us would be able to work it out.' Téa sighed.

'This… ill…' Jay swayed.

'Well that's just what we need,' Duke rolled his eyes.

'It's not his fault.' Téa shot him a look. 'Since when did you adopt the Tristan outlook on life anyway?'

'I'm sorry; I guess this storm is getting to me too.'

'... everybody...' Jay's voice buzzed and crackled. 'If… SK's… maybe… message…'

'I wish I got more of what you were saying.' Téa frowned at him. 'I don't know if you're trying to give a message to us, or if you think that SK wants to send a message to the Mistresses.'

'… Message…'

'It's no good.' She shook her head. 'I just don't understand you.'

'… Mistresses…' Jay's image popped in and out again, '… the First…'

'Joey and Yugi have gone to find Kaiba and Tristan.'

'Tristan…' his voice cut out completely.

'I told you,' Téa pulled a face, 'it's no good, we can't understand anything you're trying to say.'

'If only… explain…'

* * *

He could hear them talking, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. It was as though they were from a different world or a far removed place in time. The thought felt strange to him as though he knew things shouldn't be that way. He was just so exhausted. So exhausted nothing made any sense to him. But how did he get this way? Whilst he was still able to stand he thought he knew the answer, but now he was like this the answer felt wrong. Like it was a heavy weight when it should have been a feather on a string.

The strangeness of his own thought made him laugh. To him the laugh sounded strange and idiotic and from the lack of reaction the voices above were giving it he doubted somehow they'd heard. He wasn't sure if that thought comforted him or not. As he lay there, mindlessly amused by his own random and intangible thoughts he became aware of something moving inside of him. It was a strange feeling, like a worm swimming through water. No, not a worm. Worms couldn't swim. It was more like a snake. A big, long, impatient snake looking for something in the depth of the water. Looking for something he needed. No. Looking for something in him.

As the snake continued to move a strange bright light filled his vision. His strangely absent mind turned towards it with an inability to understand what it was. There was something warm and strangely comforting about the light, but at the same time it felt final. It felt like the end. A part of him, the exhausted part of him, just wanted to move towards the light. If the light was the end of everything then it was the end of his exhaustion too. If he moved towards the light he would be able to rest. Nothing would matter to him anymore and he would be free. Free of responsibilities he didn't ask for. Free of chaos and confusion and the constant feeling he wasn't good enough. The freedom was tempting, but the snake swimming around inside of him resisted it.

The resistance made the light feel harsh and dangerous. It slowly started to fill him with an untameable panic. If he moved towards the light that would be it, he would be gone forever never capable of returning. If he moved towards the light he would lose everything including himself. The exhaustion might have tempted him with the thought of rest, but that wasn't the kind of rest he wanted or needed. He had to listen to the snake. He had to find some way of pulling back from the light. Some way of pulling himself back into existence.

The snake's swirling became more intense and insistent. He wanted to wake up now. He needed to wake up now. This wasn't his time. He was stronger than this. Stronger than even he realised. He knew now what had really caused his exhaustion and he knew now exactly how he could beat it. He had to stay away from the light. He had to wake up.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

'So who exactly was Win?' Covo pressed his lips together. 'I mean, really?'

'He was the Mistresses' first creation,' Jay tilted his head to one side, 'their husband and the father of Set.'

'But wait, I thought the Mistresses created Set, that _he_ was their first creation.'

'That's just the story which has been passed down; no doubt some kind of conspiracy by the Odraians to hide the fact the multiverse as we know it now isn't the original.'

'Again, what?' Covo stared at him.

'When Win was around the Mistresses and he created their own universe. I can't say I know too much about it, but I do know Giya was a part of it. In fact Giya and the Giyans are the only parts of it which survived the destruction. Well the only parts I know about for sure,' Jay's face filled with a thoughtful look. 'It was the Reganna you know, the beings which possessed the three of us, who destroyed the original universe. They would have gone on to destroy Giya too if it hadn't been for Win. Win stopped them but he paid for it with his own existence. As they were shattered into a million shards and scattered across the fabric of time and space so was he. But in the same way they were able to gather together and reform...'

'So was he,' Covo's eyes turned towards the caged Mai.

'From what we know large portions of Win are in Mai, Tristan and this kid called Mokuba. We also know there's a fourth out there somewhere but we don't know where, although I believe there are some hints about it in the Fabled Truths, right Cat?' Jay turned his gaze towards her.

Catilin pouted and refused to respond. In Covo's mind she looked like a sulking child, only he had no idea what on earth it was she was sulking about.

'Catilin I could really do with your input on this one, are you alright?' Jay did his best to reach a hand towards her, but the chains didn't allow for much movement.

Again Catilin didn't reply.

'Cat...?'

'Catilin hunny,' Mai coaxed from her cage, 'is something the matter?'

'Mai will you please ask _him_ why _he's_ taken over from Jay?' Catilin folded her arms.

'What?' Mai stared at her. 'You mean...?'

'Mai will you ask _him_ why _he's_ taken over from Jay!'

'It's because Jay's gone Catilin.' Jay's voice sounded strange all of a sudden.

'Where?' Catilin turned back to him. 'And how?'

'I'm not sure, but I can still sense him and I know he's not doing so good.'

'And you didn't think we needed to know?'

'Well I thought that our current situation was more pressing.'

'Well you could have at least taken the time to tell us that you'd taken over Octan.'

'Octan?' Covo interrupted. 'As in...?'

'Octan Tessin Cayta,' Jay shot him a sheepish look, 'I was...'

'One of the Desmitus,' Covo cut him off, 'but how...?'

'It doesn't matter right now,' Jay-Octan sighed, 'all that matters is that I'm here and Jay's not. So you're going to have to put up with it Cat.'

'I don't feel comfortable talking to you, not after what you did.' Catilin bit her lip. 'You hurt me Octan. You hurt Jay too.'

'Cat please.'

'No.'

'Cat hunny, I know you don't feel comfortable talking to him, but why don't you talk to me instead, huh?' Again Mai was the one coaxing. 'Is there anything in the Fabled Truths which might be able to help us work out who the forth part of Win is?'

'Maybe, but I don't really understand it myself,' she lowered her gaze. 'Or if I do then I'm not sure I want to.'

'Tell us what you think then Cat,' Jay-Octan smiled at her. 'Maybe we can sort it out together.'

'I don't want to work with you. I don't want to tell you anything.'

'Don't you think you're being a little bit selfish Cat?'

'You didn't tell us about Jay. You...'

'Stop it right now all of you,' Covo cut her, pulling at his hair a little as he did. 'Don't you think I've got enough to process right now without the two of you bickering like a couple of school kids? I mean, for Light's sake I've just found out that Ahna's carrying Veronie's child, a child which also happens to belong to the First and some evil entity known as Gan. On top of that I've also discovered that all three Mistresses have been mortalised and that the heavens had been left with some bozo named SP...'

'SK,' Catilin stopped him. 'He's called SK and he's not just some bozo, he's Kaiba's cousin.'

'Kaiba? Wait you mean the guy who's now the Pure? Well that explains a lot.' Covo couldn't help but feel exasperated. 'This is a mess. This whole situation is a mess and I've only got myself to blame for allowing you crazy people to drag me into it. How...? How am I supposed to deal with all this? How am I supposed to cope with any of this when every five minutes you throw out yet more mind blowing information. Set wasn't the Mistresses' first creation, someone called Win was. The multiverse wasn't their first attempt, the now almost completely destroyed universe was. Octan Tessin Cayta somehow still exists within someone else. A dead someone else I might add. A someone else who hosted an evil being themselves not too long ago if I'm following this right. I can't take it. I just can't take any more startling revelations. It's too much.'

'Don't you think you're blowing this a little out of proportion Covo?' Jay-Octan cocked an eyebrow at him.

'No I do not,' Covo scowled, 'and if I could fold my arms, I would be doing it right now.'

'I'm starting to wonder what they were thinking when they enlisted your help.'

'You want to know what they were thinking? You really want to know what they were thinking?' Covo could hear the mild hysteria in his own voice. 'Because, funnily enough, I think I can tell you what they were thinking. They were thinking that, despite being a pretty average Silkoneon, right now I'm still more powerful than the three of them put together. They needed me because they needed my power. They convinced me this was a good idea because they didn't have anyone else available to them.'

'That's not...' Catilin shook her head.

Before she could get any further, however, a beautiful young woman and some weird black haired kid entered the chamber. For a few moments everyone was silence. Then the black haired kid made his way towards the cage Mai was in and tried to figure out a way of freeing her.

'I'm not going to ask what Jay and Cat are doing together,' he frowned in concentration. 'Right now I'm pretty sure it's not important. Or at least not as important as everything else going on.'

'Great, just great. This was exactly what we needed right now. Some kid who knows more about what's going on than I do,' Covo forced the fakest smile he could muster onto his face. 'Next you're going to tell me you're related to that Kaiba jerk or that you're another part of Win. Oh please tell me you're another part of Win, it would just round this day off perfectly.'

'I am,' the kid shot him a weird look. 'I'm also Seto's little brother.'

'Seto?'

'He means Kaiba,' Jay-Octan sighed.

'So you're both,' Covo gave a slightly hysterical sounding laugh. 'Well isn't that just perfect.'

'Err...' the kid blinked at him, 'who are you?'

'I'm Macar Covo, but right now you can just call me the idiot who thought getting involved in this mess was a good idea.'

'Okay...' the kid's face fell into a bemused expression. 'Well I'm Mokuba and that's Mov.'

'Mov?' Covo's voice was flat. 'As in the Earth Goddess Mov.'

'That's not Mov,' Mai took a step back. 'I met Mov earlier and you look nothing like her.'

'What?' Fear flickered through Mokuba's eyes.

'She's right,' Jay-Octan swallowed visibly hard, 'that's not Mov.'

'Then... who is it?'

'It's been a while,' Jay-Octan met the woman's gaze.

'Yes it has,' she folded her arms.

'Now the only question is; why are you here?'

'You want to know if I'm an ally or an enemy, right?' The woman smirked.

'With you it could go either way, you are a balance just like she is.'

'Of course.'

'Octan who is that?' Catilin stared at him. 'What's going on?'

'Because the Pure is a balance she has a split consciousness,' Jay-Octan lowered his head slightly. 'That means she's the only being in the universe capable of being in two places at once.'

'But how...?'

'Telepathic projection,' the woman laughed. 'I've been using it to keep an eye on all the Win parts without any of them even realising. That's how I knew about your encounter with Mov, Mai and was able to use it to convince little Mokuba here that I was her.'

'Because you knew I wouldn't help you else,' Mokuba shook his head.

'Of course not; I may not have the same goals in mind as the rest of my consciousness does right now, but I'm still part of the Pure. The second you found that out there was just no way you would have trusted me. And I needed you to trust me in order to complete the task I've been given.'

'The task you've been given?'

'Yes,' a too sweet smile pulled across her lips, 'so they could concentrate on the child, I was told to focus on Win.'


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Jay's image continued to flicker and buzz as more and more of what he was saying fell into obscurity. It was like trying to deal with an old fashioned TV who's aerial had been bent and no one could quite get it in the exact right place to pick up any kind of clear signal. Téa gave a heavy sigh and tired to push her own frustrations away, but no matter how hard she tried all she could think about was how SK had replaced on incoherent dead guy with an inaudible one.

As Jay's voice buzzed and rattled its way through another indecipherable sentence, Téa turned her attention towards SK. His translucent body had partially sunk into the floor below in a manner which reminded Téa of some kind of video game glitch. The thought on its own was marginally disturbing, but not as much as several other half formed thoughts trying to creep their way in.

'What I don't get is why aren't you here properly?' Téa turned her attention back towards Jay 'I know it's a dumb question to ask; you don't even really know why you're here, never mind anything else. But if we could figure out why whatever it was SK was trying to do didn't work properly then maybe we could figure out exactly what it is we're supposed to do to fix it.'

'Is there some way you could ask him?' Duke indicated towards Jay. 'I mean, are there other ways for the dead to communicate with each other?'

Jay half rolled his eyes and shook his head. There was something about the response which annoyed Téa a little. It was as if he were expecting them to know the question was dumb or something.

'This is such a stupid situation,' Téa made an almost involuntary noise of disgust. 'We should be trying to figure out a way of helping Joey and the others, not playing charades with Static the Friendly Ghost.'

Almost as soon as Téa had finished speaking, SK's body gave a violent and spasm-like jerk. Instantly the three of them jumped back in surprise. For a full five minutes an unearthly silence filled the room as all three of their eyes focused on SK. It was like watching something out of a creepy old horror movie. As they watched, SK's body lifted its way back out of the ground and slowly became solid again. It then twisted and jerked on the floor a few more times adding to the computer glitch image Téa already had in her head. When a loud groan escaped him and his eyes started to flicker open Téa wasn't sure if she was relieved or just too freaked out to care how or why this had happened.

'Are... are you okay?' Téa's mouth felt dry.

'SK hurt,' the words moaned their way out of him as he pushed himself up onto all fours. 'Where SK?'

'Still in Kaiba's office, what's the last thing you remember?'

'Seto...?' The word sounded slow and thoughtful. 'Seto...?' There was more strength to it this time as though SK were waking up. 'Ah, Seto, SK remember.' He half jumped to his feet and focused his attention on Jay. 'Help SK. SK make good.'

'…wrong…SK?' Jay's face was filled with a look of confusion.

'Long story,' Duke rolled his eyes, 'and I doubt you'd understand much of it right now. That's if you're getting as little of what we're saying as we are of what you're saying.'

'Jay help SK.' SK licked his lips as he made his way towards Jay. 'SK help Jay.'

'What… do?'

'SK Jay.'

'…'

'Jay help SK?'

After hesitating for a few moments, Jay nodded. SK licked his lips for a second time and walked towards him.

'Wait… doing?' Jay backed away.

'Jay help SK.'

'…' the words were obscured by buzzing but the anger on Jay's face read as clear as a bell.

'Jay,' SK's tone was serious, 'must. Only way.'

'SK what are you planning to do?' Téa felt totally clueless.

'SK Jay.' SK licked his lips again.

'… me…' Jay flailed his arms about in agitation.

'I didn't understand a word of that,' Téa shook her head. 'SK what are you planning to do?'

'SK Jay.' SK refocused his attention on the other dead guy.

'F… SK.' Jay had now backed so far away from SK his back was pressed up against the wall.

'Jay,' SK's expression was as serious as his voice, 'know right. Know must. Only way. Jay know only way.'

'...'

'Jay.'

For a long couple of minutes the two of them locked gazes in what Téa could only guess was a silent battle of wills. Then Jay gave a heavy sigh and appeared to relent. He then made his way towards SK. The second the two of them connected a bright and blinding white light filled the room.

'What's going on?' Téa found herself forced to look away.

'You think I know?' Duke sounded exasperated.

It didn't take long for the light to dim. The second it did Téa turned her head back towards where the two dead guys had been standing. Instantly her heart turned over with a strange feeling of fear.

'SK,' Téa swallowed hard, 'what… what did you do?'

* * *

She was a sixteen year old living in a world where she was amongst the oldest of her race. Completely cut off from Earth she had no one to talk to about what it was like to be pregnant, never mind what giving birth was going to be like. Okay, so she'd had a keen interest in medicine before discovering she was a Silkoneon, but she'd wanted to be a general nurse, for _adult_ patients. And if that wasn't bad enough then the fact her captors were clearly losing their minds was.

It was just her and Tristan now. She wasn't totally sure where Kaiba had gone, but if she were being totally honest she didn't really want to know. Having both of them there put her in a lose-lose situation. An involuntary groan of pain escaped her as another contraction rippled through her body.

'Why aren't you helping me?' She gritted her teeth.

'You're not nearly far enough along to warrant help yet,' Tristan lowered his head as he continued to lean against the wall.

'At exactly what point did you become an expert on giving birth?'

Tristan's face filled with a strange smirk and his eyes flicked up towards her. For a few long moments there was silence, broken only by the pain caused by her latest contraction.

'You know back in ancient times women often had to give birth standing up,' Tristan idly studied the nails on his right hand. 'There were no real painkillers back then either, at least none which had anywhere near the same effect as modern medicine I mean. Back then labour was a real struggle for women and is probably why a lot of twigs like you would have died in child birth.'

'Is there a point to this or are you just trying to piss me off now,' she glared at him.

'It wasn't easy setting this place up for you, you know Ahna,' Tristan folded his arms. 'I know it's not exactly hospital standards and I have absolutely no intention on providing you with any painkillers, but it's a lot more comfortable than what your ancestors would have had to put up with. So why not try relaxing a little?'

'I'm in labour and you're asking me to relax?'

'It'll help conserve your strength which will make it easier for you in the long run,' Tristan shrugged. 'Right now all you're doing is tiring yourself out.'

'You're really being a bastard right now, you know that' she growled at him. 'I hate you.'

'Of course you hate me, evil always hates good.'

'You're deluded if you think you're good right now.'

'You're wrong,' he took several steps towards her, 'I know things are a little... crazy right now, but that's only because the rain is heightening everything. Then again the rain is just waiting for your child to be born; a child capable of changing everything. I'm just trying to make sure that child has the chance to fulfil their destiny. Don't you understand that Ahna? You're child doesn't belong with you, because you were so weak you gave into evil.'

'But I'm not evil anymore.'

'That doesn't matter Ahna,' he shook his head, 'your child will be a chaotic balance. Balances don't have the same sense of right and wrong the rest of us do and we can't risk your weakness becoming the child's.'

'So you're going to take my child away from me without letting me have the chance to prove myself?'

'If you wanted to prove yourself you should have told Joey about the baby,' he turned away from her.

'I... I couldn't...'

'Of course you couldn't. You couldn't because you'd already betrayed him once. You'd already proven to him you couldn't be trusted. Worse still you're weak Ahna. First you were used by evil then you allowed evil to push everything good in you to one side. Joey can't even stand to look at you and you know it.'

'Maybe,' she lowered her gaze, 'but that doesn't mean I don't have the right to raise this child. My child.'

'But it's not exactly your child though, is it Ahna?' Tristan flicked his gaze back towards her.

'That depends on how you look at it I guess. But you yourself said this child has four parents and last I checked I was still one of the four.'

'If we can do without Gan, we can do without you,' Tristan rolled his eyes.

'What happened to you,' Ahna stared at him. 'You're not the kind and loyal friend Veronie told me about.'

'That friend died the second the First was mortalised,' Tristan gritted his teeth, 'the second I realised I really was different to everyone else. I think I could sense your child coming even then, but it was so buried under the other crap I had to deal with I didn't see it until it was almost too late.'

'Is that when you brought Kaiba in on this too,' she braced herself against another contraction.

'What makes you think I was the one who brought him in on anything,' Tristan laughed. 'Things aren't as straight forward as you think. In fact things are a lot more complicated than you could possibly realise right now. Like your child for example, it starts the story.'

'What?'

'The story those restless spirits were telling when you decided to go all blackheart on us. Don't you get it, in our version of the story _you're_ Lillyannu and your child is...'

'Kayma,' the word came out in a burst of pain, 'but... how...?'

'How did I figure it out? It really wasn't that hard.' Tristan met her gaze. 'I could sense your child that day... the day which showed me who I really am... the day which turned me into this,' he stared down at his own hands. 'I knew Ahna, I knew what you and Gan had created and I knew one way or another I had to protect that child from you. It wasn't until later I knew it would be like this. And it does have to be like this Ahna, because your baby really is the child of this storm.'


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

'Win?' Mokuba stared at her. 'This is about Win?'

'For me it is, yes,' she met and held his gaze. 'They weren't sure when they were going to bother with the rest of you, because the part of Win they need is already as good as he's going to get on his own. That's why they left it up to me to decide how and when the other parts should be awakened. Because even if they don't need you now, they will need you eventually.'

'But wait a minute, aren't their four Win parts?' Jay-Octan pulled a face. 'And don't you only know who three of them are...'

'You're wrong,' the woman cut him off, 'I know exactly who the fourth is, because Tristan figured it out for me.'

'So who...?'

'Not yet,' she shook her head, 'I'm not ready for you to know that yet.'

'So this is where you've gotten to,' Kaiba's entrance made Covo's heart lurch sickly.

'I thought the child had your attention right now,' the woman frowned at him.

'It did, but... well what can I say, I've always been a little curious about your plan,' Kaiba shrugged and lowered his head slightly.

'I figured you might be, especially right now when you're like this, right?'

'You could say that. So what exactly is your plan?'

'Pretty much the same as yours is with the child,' she smirked. 'This storm has already started to unlock the latent power within them, you can sense that as well as I can,' the woman took several steps towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder. 'Awakening them now will be good for them. It'll allow them to fulfil their full individual potential rather than being incomplete fragments of a greater whole.'

'I understand your logic, but...'

'Already been taken care of,' her eyes flicked towards Mokuba for a moment. 'I don't waste opportunities.'

'No, I don't suppose you do,' he lowered his head slightly. 'But _they'll_ be here soon and we'll need to work together if we hope to stand a chance of stopping them.'

'That's fine, the process here has already been set into motion anyway,' she smiled at him. 'It's just a waiting game with them now and I'm sure they'll be able to figure it out on their own soon enough.'

'You might be giving them a little too much credit there.'

'Perhaps, but it's a chance I'm willing to take.'

Kaiba nodded and made his way back out of the chamber. For a moment the woman's eyes turned over the room again. A thin smirk appeared on her face and for a single moment Covo felt he could almost sense how much pleasure she was taking from this situation. Then she turned and left.

'I guess this means the Mistresses are finally on their way,' Jay-Octan gave a heavy sigh.

'How'd you figure that?' Covo frowned at him.

'Who else would it be?' He shrugged. 'Just be grateful we don't have to put up with their insanity for a little while.'

'Huh,' Catilin tilted her head to one side, 'it's strange, don't you think?'

'What's strange?' Jay-Octan shot her a look.

'They're so sure the missing part of Win is here too.'

'What?' He frowned. 'They never said...'

'No but they implied it,' Mai folded her arms. 'It was in everything they didn't say. Catilin's right, they've implied the forth part... the missing part of Win is here.'

'Oh...' Catilin's voice was mute. 'Oh,' her eyes went wide with realisation, 'of course, why didn't I see it before?'

'See what before?' Jay-Octan stared at her.

'All this time, right in front of me, I didn't see it.'

'See what?'

'The Mind of Win. I know the Mind of Win.'

* * *

'You're talking about them as though they were the enemy,' the Face of Friendship shook her head. 'We don't know what's really going on here.'

'Don't we?' The First cocked an eyebrow at her. 'Controlling SK, kidnapping Mokuba, trying everything possible to confuse and distract us, it doesn't exactly scream out in favour of them.'

'But that doesn't mean they're the enemy,' she pulled a face, 'for all we know they could just be doing something they don't think we'll approve of for the greater good.'

'They want to _change _things,' the First half glared at her.

'Exactly.'

'Don't give me exactly sister, when you know what it means just as well as I do. You even admitted yourself this isn't the first time the Pure has tried to gain more influence than she's entitled too.'

'But that doesn't make her the enemy, that just makes her our sister.'

'I'm not so sure,' the First folded her arms.

'You think something more's going on here?'

'The rain...'

'Yes, it is heightening things a little,' the Face of Friendship half closed her eyes for a moment, 'I think it's bothering everyone.'

'No, I don't mean the rain now, I mean the rain then. The rain which occurred after we cleansed Catilin and the others.'

'You think the rain spread _their_ essence.'

'We both know it spread _their_ essence sister,' the First shot her a look, 'just not as thinly as we would have liked.'

'You think their being influenced by darkness?' The Face of Friendship frowned.

'I think it's a possibility. Maybe even a strong possibility at this point. Look at the erratic way they've been acting, doesn't it remind you of the Reganna?'

'A little maybe, but what if the confusing behaviour is just to misdirect us? What if they're acting in a way specifically designed to make us focus on them and forget about what they might actually be up to.'

'We know what they're up to; they're trying to usurp me.'

'We don't know that, not for sure. And I think that's the point. If we think we know the truth then we won't go looking for it. They want us focusing on them right now, because if we're focused on them we won't notice anything else.'

'But there is nothing else for us to focus on,' the First's expression was as firm and solid as the emotions the Face of Friendship could sense from her, 'they're the threat here. They're being influenced by the darkness somehow and we have to stop them before we lose them forever.'

'You're right,' the sound of Kaiba's voice made them both jump.

The second she spotted the white glaze over his eyes the Face of Friendship knew it was the Pure in control. She went to take a step towards her, but the First blocked her path. Eldest and youngest sister then held each other's gaze for much longer than was comfortable. The Face of Friendship could sense a lot of conflicting and confusing emotions coming from both of them, but couldn't quite decipher what any of it might mean.

'You have to help me First,' the Pure took a step towards them, 'I didn't realise how much I was changing, how much we were both changing until...' she turned her head away and left the rest of her sentence hanging. 'He's not a balance like I am, he doesn't see it yet, but I do. I know we both need help.'

'Why should I believe you?' The First studied her.

'You know me sister. You know I would never knowingly follow a path of evil. As soon as I realised I was I knew something had to be wrong with me. I knew I needed your help. Please sister.'

'Can she be trusted?' The First flicked her gaze towards the Face of Friendship.

'I...' the Face of Friendship hesitated.

The Pure's emotions were difficult to read as a lot of conflicting ones appeared to be trying to top each other. It felt as though some internal battle was being waged, but it was impossible to tell if it was genuine or a clever deception.

'I don't know,' the Face of Friendship forced her reply. 'I want to believe her, but... I can't sense anything clearly one way or the other.'

'Please sister,' the Pure's eyes flicked pleadingly up towards them, 'what can I do to prove myself to you? There must be something.'

'There is,' the First smirked slightly, 'you can help us stop Tristan, that will prove which side you're on once and for all.'

* * *

'You know who the Mind of Win is,' Octan focused his gaze on her, 'are you sure?'

'You think I'm lying?' Catilin pouted. 'You think I don't know what I'm talking about, don't you? You think because I'm a little spacey sometimes...'

'Catilin please, do you know or don't you?'

'I know the Mind of Win,' she grinned back at him.

'So who is it?'

'I'm not going to tell you Octan. You're lucky I'm even talking to you right now.'

'How about telling the rest of us then?' Mokuba coaxed. 'I'm pretty sure we all want to know too.'

'I'm not stupid,' she shook her head. 'He has ears so he'll be able to hear no matter who I'm talking to when I say it.'

'So can you tell us something to help us figure it out for ourselves?' Mai tilted her head to one side.

'It's like the Fables said, Body and Mind are both old, they've been around lots. One passed down through strong leaders, the other through blood. Heart and Soul are both young and Soul's even a baby in comparison.'

'Because this is the first time Soul's been around,' Mai's face took on a thoughtful expression, 'and Heart's only been around once before.'

'Heart was made to be with the First no matter what,' Catilin grinned. 'That's what I think anyhow. Because the last time Heart would have been around she would have been Nima. Nima loved Simüte and Simüte was the first choice of host for the First.'

'Okay, but what does any of this have to do with who Mind is?' Octan rolled his eyes, already more than a little frustrated with her.

'It's in the Fables, don't you see it?' Catilin stared at him. 'I know the Mind of Win.'

'Well the rest of us don't so please...'

'I know the Mind of Win, Octan,' she cut him off, 'why aren't you listening to me?'

'Because you're not telling me anything.' Octan glared at her. 'And anyway I thought you didn't want me to know.'

'I said I wasn't going to tell you. But I am telling you and you're not listening which is even worse,' Catilin shook her head. 'Don't you get it, _I_ know the Mind of Win.'

'You can say it as many times as you like Cat, it's not going to suddenly make things clear.'

'But it is clear,' she pouted, 'clear like crystal. You're just looking at it wrong.'

'And you could make this so much easier by just telling us who the Mind of Win is,' Octan met her gaze.

'I told you; I know the Mind of Win. I know it.'

* * *

Téa couldn't take her eyes off of him. The guy stood before them had SK's wild haircut, but instead of his usual jet black colour it was not Jay's strawberry blond. The guy's height was somewhere halfway between Jay's five foot eleven and SK's six foot one with a build which also mashed together Jay's sleek athletic tones with SK's wirier frame. The face looked like a photoshop fit of both of them, which only added to the creepy feeling Téa got every time she looked at it. A creepy feeling only made worse by the way the eyes constantly shifted from SK's cold blue, to Jay's playful green.

'This... this is just disturbing,' Téa swallowed hard, 'what the hell did you do?'

'Jay and Octan are so heavily fused together I wasn't even sure if it was possible to bring one here without the other,' the weird SK-Jay hybrid stared down at his own hands. 'I was aiming for both of them, but something prevented me from bringing both of them here. Now I know it's because their body is chained up somewhere and just like it was impossible for me to Jump my way out of my confinement, it was equally impossible for me to Jump them out of theirs. Like I said, I didn't think it was possible to bring just one of them here, but I had to try anyway.'

'I guess that explains why Jay appeared to be here and not here at the same time.' Duke folded his arms.

'Because of the way they're so heavily interconnected Jay and Octan are two halves of the same person, whether they like to think of themselves that way or not,' the SK-Jay hybrid nodded. 'But when I had to make a choice between them, I knew it had to be Jay and not Octan.'

'Why?' Téa frowned.

'There are three reasons, the first is that Jay is the fusion spirit in the mix with Octan, but only because Octan is technically the more powerful of the two. That's how it works you see, the less powerful is the fusion and the more powerful is the fused and not the other way round. Err... if that makes sense.'

'Not really, but I think I just about follow you,' Téa tilted her head to one side.

'The second reason links back to the first. Octan is a lot more powerful than Jay, even in their current power doctored state. Since he's used to being the fused spirit he would try to overpower my consciousness rather than letting me remain in control.'

'Whereas Jay would just accept his role in all this because he knows it's for the greater good, right?' Duke narrowed his gaze on him for a moment.

'Jay might be more knowledgeable than I am, but he still respects the fact I'm the Helper now and not him. Octan, on the other hand, was the Helper for a long time and, from what I've seen of him, he just can't get over his displacement. Which kind of brings me onto my third reason for picking Jay over him; Jay is closer to my age. I know that might not make a lot of sense to you guys, but it's easy to... combine yourself with someone closer to your age than it is someone who's generations older or younger than you.'

'Okay, but why was it necessary for you to fuse yourself with Jay anyway?'

'I might have been able to fight my way back to consciousness but I was still seriously low on energy and since Jay without Octan was completely useless to everybody I figured this was about the only way to solve all problems.'

'But Jay got a fourteen year old to commit murder,' Téa stared at him, 'I don't see how that can possibly be an improvement on the situation.'

'That was Octan, not me,' the words shot out of the SK-Jay hybrid's mouth. 'Err... sorry, I guess Jay has some influence over our combined state even if he's the fusion spirit.'

'Okay,' Duke studied him for a moment, 'so right now who are you?'

'What do you mean?'

'If you're a fusion of Jay and SK right now who are you?'

'I guess I'm both,' the SK-Jay hybrid shrugged, 'and also kind of neither. But I think and feel more like SK, so I guess I am SK.'

'So we call you SK then?'

'I guess, if you want to. You could just call me Hybrid; that is what I am right now.'

'Hybrid isn't a name though,' Téa shook her head.

'Maybe not, but it's still more accurate than either name.'

'Okay, but what are we supposed to do now.'

'We free the others,' the SK-Jay hybrid half turned away from them.

'Others?'

'Catilin, Mai, Covo, Ahna, they have them right now. Tristan and Kaiba I mean.'

'Wait, Catilin and Ahna both in the same place Jay was before you moved the Jay part of him here?' Téa backed away from him. 'You're telling me Ahna, Jay and Catilin were all together?'

'Yeah... I guess I am.'

'But I thought they weren't allowed to be. I thought... I mean, Joey said... This can't be good,' Téa shook her head. 'There's just no way this can be good.'


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

'Uh... I think I get it,' Covo felt as though a light bulb had just clicked on inside her head. 'When you say you know the Mind of Win, it's because you _know_ the Mind of Win.'

'Mm-hmm,' Catilin nodded, 'I'm glad somebody's clever enough to figure it out.'

'Oh, of course,' Mai smiled and lowered her head slightly, 'it's so obvious, why didn't I see it before.'

'You've figured it out too then?' Mokuba shot her a look.

'I think so,' Mai met his gaze. 'Just think about what Catilin is actually saying and I think you'll get it too.'

Covo watched as Mokuba frowned with concentration. For a few long moments there was silence and Covo was pretty sure he could hear the cogs turning inside the kid's head. Then a look of realisation crossed his face and everything appeared to click into place for him.

'Great, so everyone's worked this out before me?' Jay-Octan rolled his eyes.

'It's really not that hard if you think about it,' Mokuba gave a nervous cough. 'She actually gave us all a really good clue.'

'Yeah, that's how I figured it out,' Covo gave a strange laugh of relief. 'I mean, I know I've been thrown a lot in the deep end with all this, but apparently it hasn't affected my practical application of knowledge. Err... I mean it's fair to say I am... or was a little bit of a nerd in school. I'm not saying I was super smart or anything like that but... well... I... I'm just digging a hole for myself right now, aren't I?'

'If you like I can fill it in for you,' Jay-Octan shot him a look, 'with you still in it, of course.'

'That's not nice,' Catilin pouted. 'Just because Covo's smarter than you doesn't mean you have to be nasty to him. And now you can't figure it out because I won't let you figure it out.'

'Urgh, I forgot you knew how to reverse a stream,' Jay-Octan shook his head. 'Damn Calicaccus.'

'Reverse a stream?' Mai frowned at him.

'There's a proper name for it but I don't know what it is,' he shrugged, 'it's basically where a Calicaccu blocks a Nethher from their thoughts. There's a lot more to it than that, I know, but... well we don't exactly have time to get into the details here. But it would also explain why the three of you all picked up on it at once. In the same way she can prevent me from following her train of thoughts she can also make sure the rest of you have no problems following it. Basically she's being really, really childish.'

'I have to be, don't I?' Catilin poked her tongue out at him. 'You brought it on yourself though Octan.'

'Whatever, don't you think it's time you let me in on this now?'

'Did you know Cappayana predicted Adam,' Catilin tilted her head to one side. 'She predicted a kayma child would live in paradise and know the mind of a being long forgotten. She predicted him perfectly.'

'But Cappayana was insane,' Jay-Octan rolled his eyes, 'she predicted a lot of things and most of them turned out to be complete and utter twaddle.'

'But she knew about Adam. That wasn't twaddle. She knew Adam would be needed, that he would be important. She predicted him. She told everyone about him. But only in the Fables did she also say he would have Ashmar blood.'

'What?' He frowned at her.

'Only in the Fables did she say he would also have Ashmar blood, nowhere else did she say it because she knew a kayma child in an Ashmar line would not be well thought of. But then there were two. Kayma and Adam. Both forbidden for different reasons, but both needed too. Both born the day their mothers died. It's no mistake. No chance happening. It was important it happened that way. Because if it hadn't then Adam wouldn't have become Mind.'

'But he lacked Win's memories,' Jay-Octan's frown deepened.

'Yes, yes, because Win was never meant to come back like that. It would have been too painful for the Mistresses back then. That's why it had to be an incomplete Mind. A flawed Mind. Adam was flawed. Flawed because he was kept ignorant. Flawed because he wasn't a true Ashmar.'

'Wait, what?'

'Flawed because he wasn't a true Ashmar,' Catilin repeated.

'Wasn't a true Ashmar,' Jay-Octan's voice sounded dry, 'but he was an Ashmar.'

'Yes.'

'You must be able to work it out now,' Covo stared at him. 'I don't know who the hell this Adam guy is, but I still know what she's trying to get at her.'

'Only because she wants you to know,' Jay-Octan glared at him. 'She's deliberately making this that much harder for me, remember?'

'You do get why she's talking about Adam, right?' Mai nodded emphatically at him. 'She's not just mentioning him for the sake of mentioning him here, there is a reason.'

'Yeah, I get that. I just... Stop blocking me Catilin, this is getting beyond a joke now,' he fixed his gaze on her. 'Either give me a straight answer or help me out or something, because I just don't get it. And I won't get it unless you stop blocking me.'

'Adam knew the Mind of Win because Adam had Ashmar blood.' Catilin grinned. 'The Mind of Win was inherited. Passed through blood. Down, down, down a long line it went. Mind is probably older than Body, but I can't be so sure because Body is stronger and more complete. But Mind was always meant to be Mind; not so complete. Adam lacked the memory, but he still had the thoughts and the knowledge all the same. He only didn't have the memory because he didn't have true blood. And without true blood he didn't have access to the Fables. And without the Fables he didn't have the memories of Win.'

'Because the memories of Win are locked within the Fables,' a slow look of realisation crossed Jay-Octan's face, 'and the Mind of Win is inherited through Ashmar blood.'

'You know it, see,' Catilin giggled. 'You know who the Mind of Win is.'

'Yeah, I do,' he stared at her. 'You know the Mind of Win, because you _are_ the Mind of Win.'

* * *

The Face of Friendship was still trying to read her little sister, but it was impossible for her to tell for sure what was really going on inside the Pure's head. The conflicting emotions she could sense might have confirmed what the Pure was saying about fighting a great darkness inside herself in order to help them, but the explanation just felt too convenient. It was as though she'd chosen the exact right moment to appear before them and agree with the new theory the First was forming. The theory which meant the Pure and Tristan were being controlled by evil. A theory which again put an emphasis on the two of them and tried to ignore what they were really up to.

The Pure was hiding something, there was no doubt about that, but the Face of Friendship wasn't sure if she was hiding something because she wanted to or because the supposed darkness inside of her was making her. The Face of Friendship wished the First would open up some kind of discussion so the truth could work its way out, but it was impossible. The Pure had already validated the First's theory so what more did she need to know?

'For what it's worth I think your suspicions are well founded,' the ghostly presence of the Pharaoh appeared beside her, making her start more than a little.

'How...?' She found herself staring at him for a moment.

'You told me the first time we met that it was Yugi you needed and not me, so I have remained a separate entity to you.'

'I know, but...'

'If Yugi shares your powers and abilities then you must also share his. You are in so many ways each other now.'

'Of course,' she lowered her head slightly, 'I should have thought about that. But they're the ones who normally do all the thinking,' her gaze flicked between her sisters, 'I merely reflect those thoughts.'

'You are much more than a reflection,' the Pharaoh placed a ghostly hand on her shoulder, 'you have your own thoughts and feelings you know. That's why you're questioning this situation now. You should have more faith in yourself.'

'I am faith,' her words were as clean and simple as the sentiment behind them.

'Then why don't you believe in yourself?'

His words struck her with a note of discord; she'd never really thought about it before, but he was right, she had no faith in herself. How could she when her sisters' wills and wants were constantly pulling her in two. Life as an empath wasn't easy.

'What do your instincts tell you about the Pure right now,' the Pharaoh coaxed her into conversation.

'They tell me not to trust her,' the Face of Friendship felt guilty for even thinking it. 'They tell me she's leading us into a trap.'

* * *

'You're leading us in circles sister,' the First folded her arms.

'Am I?' The Pure's voice had the same sickly sweet tone she always used when trying to get her own way on something. 'I guess the darkness inside of me must be stronger than I thought.'

'Or you're not really trying to help us,' the First hated feeling this suspicious of her little sister, but there wasn't anything she could do about it.

'If I'm not trying to help you then what am I trying to do?' The Pure met her gaze, holding it in a strangely sad kind of way as if hurt by the thought the First didn't trust her.

'You're trying to stall us,' the First came to a stop, forcing her sisters to do the same.

'As much as I hate to agree, I think the First is right,' the Face of Friendship gave a heavy sigh. 'We've been wandering around aimlessly for too long, it feels like you're trying to keep us occupied.'

'I don't mean it too,' the Pure shook her head. 'Like I said, maybe the darkness has a greater control over me than I thought. But we're not walking around as aimlessly as you might think; I just thought I would lead you to the others first.'

'The others?' The First narrowed her gaze on her sister.

'Tristan's prisoners, I thought you would like to free them first, only I can't remember where they're being kept so I guess that's why I appear a little lost.'

'I thought you said that was because the darkness was controlling you.'

'In a way it is,' the Pure half turned her gaze away. 'What I mean is, the darkness is preventing me from remembering exactly where he's keeping the prisoners. I know it's near here somewhere, but no matter how hard I try to remember where...'

'Well that's convenient,' the First rolled her eyes. 'Why not just take us to Tristan; the prisoners can wait till we've freed him and you from the darkness.'

'Are you sure,' the Pure refocused her gaze on the First, 'because... well, one of the prisoners is someone very important to you.'

'What do you mean?' The First could feel her heart lurch sickly, not really wanting to know the answer to her question.

'I mean, one of the prisoners is someone you care a lot about,' there was something soft and luring about the tone the Pure was using. 'One of the prisoners is Mai.'


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Téa had backed so far away from the SK-Jay hybrid her back was practically pressed against the wall. Duke on the other hand was waiting to see what the Jay part of the hybrid had to say for himself before drawing any conclusions. After all, there could have been a perfectly legitimate reason the three of them were together, I mean, according to the hybrid they were being held hostage or something so...

'Look, I'm not the bad guy here,' the SK-Jay hybrid licked his lips, 'I mean... he's not the bad guy here. I know we... they shouldn't have been together, but they were... we were... they were just trying to redeem themselves. We... they're not bad guys anymore.'

'It doesn't matter what they were doing,' Téa shook her head, 'the point is they weren't supposed to be together. They were breaking the rules of their punishment.'

'Okay, yeah we... I mean they were, but they had a good reason to do it.'

'So what was this good reason?' Duke folded his arms.

'It all started with the rain, you must have figured that out by now,' the SK-Jay hybrid half turned away. 'I sent Jay down to get a message to the Mistresses because something didn't feel right about it. When I... I mean Jay went looking for the Mistresses I... he couldn't find them,' the hybrid frowned, 'but I did bump into Cat, who also had reservations about the rain.'

'You bumped into Catilin?' Duke cocked an eyebrow.

'I mean he,' the hybrid rolled his eyes, 'look it's a little confusing right now, I'm having to tell two peoples sides of this story when technically I am both of those people.'

'Well what happened when Jay and Catilin talked?'

'I... Jay hadn't believed there was anything strange about the rain until he reached Sil and when he discovered she was also concerned I... he decided to do a little investigating of his own, mostly because I wanted to avoid SK. I didn't think I'd be able to hide my encounter with Cat from him, especially after he learned I was unable to deliver his message. But whilst I was off playing the stubborn child SK ran into a little trouble of his own.'

'You mean Tristan?'

'Right,' the SK-Jay hybrid licked his lips again. 'I was actually looking for Jay when I came across Tristan. I have to admit when I first saw him I feared... Well I remembered the things he was talking about before he went AWOL three months ago and... I was concerned. Of course he didn't exactly leave me much opportunity to be concerned before attaching this device called a Scarna to the back of my neck and sending me after my cousin. It was at this point Jay realised he couldn't just ignore the storm any longer and came looking for me.'

'So you're saying Jay's involvement with the other two wasn't intentional?' Duke studied him.

'Oh no, it was, but only after I discovered SK was missing,' the SK-Jay hybrid met his gaze. 'I wasn't totally sure how I was going to get hold of Ahna, because at that point in time no one knew where she'd been hiding herself although I was pretty sure she was in one of the Temples.'

'Why?'

'Temples are magically protected because they're supposed to be safe houses. It takes a lot of magic to penetrate the barrier, like the gods or the Mistresses level of magic I mean. And it was that level of magic which drove Ahna out,' he pressed his lips together. 'It became pretty obvious to me early on that somebody wanted the three of us to get together again and _they_ confirmed it the second we encountered them.'

'By _they_ you mean Tristan and Kaiba, right?'

'Right.'

'They needed us because we were the only ones capable of getting what they wanted. Well... that's not totally true,' the SK-Jay hybrid pulled a face. 'They only really needed Ahna, but since we were the only ones Ahna was likely to trust enough to work with... Well they were quick to create a trap and we were even quicker at walking into it.'

'You said it was only Ahna they really needed,' Téa shuffled a few steps towards him, 'why?'

'To begin with we just thought it was because...' he stopped himself, 'err... I'll get onto that in a moment. But there were two reasons it had to be her and one of them was to do with her being a Crovell. You see the Crovell family have this... secret armoury they created as a way of honouring the two Gods of War they patroned. Within the armoury was eight mythical weapons known as the Elemental Weapons. I won't go into their history right now, but basically the only way Tristan and Kaiba could get their hands on them was for a Crovell to remove them from the armoury.'

'I guess that means they have those weapons now then,' Duke pulled a face.

'Unfortunately, yes.'

'So what was the other reason they needed Ahna?'

'Because of the baby...' the SK-Jay hyrbid's voice trailed slightly.

'What baby?'

'Ahna's baby,' he swallowed hard. 'Ahna is pregnant.'

* * *

Every inch of her was tense with fear. Fear of the thought of giving birth. Fear of the knowledge the second she did these insane young men would take her child from her. She didn't care if they were being manipulated by the higher beings they hosted or not, it didn't give them the right to take her child away from her like this.

A burst of emotions flooded through Ahna. For the last three months all she'd felt towards the child growing inside her was dread and guilt. Dread over the thought of being a single teenage parent and guilt over the way she'd come to be pregnant to begin with. In her mind the child had come to represent the worst part of herself; the weakness which had allowed her to be so easily manipulated by evil. But despite all that she'd never blamed the child and somewhere mixed within all the dread and guilt was pure motherly love. She instinctively loved her child so much it hurt, physically hurt her to think of anyone hurting it or worse...

'What do you mean this child is the storm?' Ahna gritted her teeth through yet another contraction.

'The power, the energy, can't you feel it buzzing around you?' Tristan chuckled. 'Everyone can, regardless of the magic they're capable of, everyone can feel how different this storm is from anything we've ever experienced before. It's unsettling for everyone and the unrest its causing is beyond anything you're capable of comprehending. When your child is born it will come into the centre of the storm and harness its potential for all its worth.'

'How?'

'Because this storm and your child are connected in ways even I didn't realise until it started,' Tristan's gaze turned upwards. 'I don't know why that kid thought things could be any different to this, because they can't. This storm would just continue until your child was born causing so much damage, I see that now. The height of this storm has been waiting for you to give birth. I thought time was moving towards it, but... As the height of the storm approaches I see things with a clarity I never thought possible. The kid was wrong; delaying the birth of your child would have caused more destruction not less.'

'What kid?' Ahna shook her head. 'What are you talking about?'

'It doesn't matter. The only thing you need to know is that your child and this storm are one and the same in so many ways. They are both chaos. And chaos needs to be controlled by order, that's where we step in. We will control the chaos. We will control your child and the multiverse...'

'You're insane if you think anyone's going to let you control the multiverse,' Ahna cut him off.

'Change needs to happen Ahna,' Tristan smirked at her, 'I am simply trying to bring about change.'

* * *

Even though Octan had no need to breathe, he still found himself sucking in a deep breath and holding it. He'd been around long before Sil had become the first Ashmar of his line, so he'd witnessed this family's development first hand. It was hard not to when the Mistresses had always taken a strange interest in them. Octan had watched Sil write the first entry of the Fabled Truths, he'd then watched subsequent generations add their own stories and details to the book. He'd sensed its importance from the start, everyone had, but he doubted any of them had really known why.

Now he just found himself studying her, trying to figure out why her line had been blessed in this way. What was it about the Ashmars which made them such great potential hosts for Win? Why them and not one of the other four head houses?

'The Lutoni are special too, that's what you're thinking, right?' Catilin tilted her head to one side. 'The Chaosa and the Odray weren't chosen by chance, but there was never anything remarkable about them; they were just ordinary, but the Ashmar and the Lutoni have always been special. The Ashmar were special because of Win, that's why we're the leaders and not the Lutoni. But the Lutoni were always special in their own right. There's something in them, but I don't know what it is. Maybe they've all always been connected to the First like Veronie is, but maybe they were just special. Maybe they just all had the special quality Guardians have.'

'The Fables are the key to unlocking Win's power,' Mokuba let out a strange breath, 'that's why she had to make sure I'd made contact with the book.'

'We always knew something was woven into the fabric of the Fables,' a slim smile appeared on Catilin's face. 'It was always there, just below the surface, like a coy in a fish pond. We could see it there, but it would always move out of reach before we could touch it.'

'But if you knew what it was you were looking at, it would be like putting a key into a lock and turning it, right?' Covo narrowed his gaze on her. 'It's why the Ashmars were always so obsessed with that damn text.'

'Damn text?' Octan shot him a strange look.

'Err... I'm not totally sure where that came from,' he gave a nervous laugh.

'I do,' Catilin giggled. 'The Covos don't like the Fables because they're in them.'

'They are?' Covo frowned at her.

'Uh-huh. Just a little note about them which always made them nervous. Their secret.'

'It's in there?' Covo swallowed hard.

'Wait, the Covos have a secret?' Octan felt confused. 'What secret?'

'It's not important,' Catilin shook her head. 'It has nothing to do with helping us now and there's no reason for you to ever know.'

'Great, so you've just told us Covo has a secret and you're not going to tell us what?' Octan rolled his eyes. 'Gee, thanks, that's not going to drive me out of my mind with curiosity.'

'I told you, it's not important. And anyway Covo is allowed his little secret, just like all Covos are.' Catilin shot a sweet smile in Covo's direction.

'Thanks,' Covo lowered his head and appeared to squirm a little.

'Just like always, no one will know,' she gave a simple little nod.

'Right,' he let out a covert breath, 'but how about we focus on what's important here?' Covo forced a smile onto his face. 'We should be talking about Win.'


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

The Face of Friendship was starting to feel more than a little uncomfortable now. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't shake the feeling that the Pure was leading them into some kind of trap. It also wasn't clear whether or not the First trusted their sister or not. In fact both of them were being deliberately hard to read. It was as if they were trying to unsettle her somehow.

'Have they ever done anything like this to you before?' The Pharaoh frowned as his image appeared beside her again.

'Anything like what?' She tried to play ignorant.

'Shut you out in this way,' his gaze felt as though it were penetrating her soul somehow. 'They know you're an empath, right? So they must know how to counter your abilities.'

'They can,' she felt reluctant to agree, 'but only in the same way the First and I can shut out the Pure's telepathy when we need to. We might be close for sisters, but we all value our privacy.'

'So them shutting you out like this isn't unusual then?'

'N-no...' the Face of Friendship tried to downplay her concern.

'But...?' The Pharaoh coaxed.

'What makes you think there's a but?'

'You've implied it and besides its written all over your face.'

'Maybe it is,' she lowered her gaze, 'but it's just me being silly really.'

'I see.'

'Like I said, just because we're close sisters, doesn't mean we need to know everything about each other all the time, does it?'

'Of course not.'

'And normally it wouldn't bother me,' the Face of Friendship felt herself cracking a little, 'normally I would give anything not to be in the middle of one of their battle of wills, so why does it bother me so much that they've shut me out.'

'I guess that depends on why you think they've shut you out,' the Pharaoh placed a hand on her shoulder again. 'Maybe you fear what it means.'

'It means that neither of them trust me enough to know what's really going on here,' the Face of Friendship lowered her gaze. 'That or they both think I'm too weak to handle it. Either way I don't like it. I deserve more than this. I may not be as strong as they are or as passionate or... whatever, but damnit I'm a Mistress too and I wish for once they'd remember that.'

* * *

The second the hybrid had revealed to them Ahna was pregnant; Duke had pretty much insisted they go rescue her and the others. Okay, so she might not have been the most innocent person in the world and Duke might have had his suspicions about how she'd become pregnant to begin with, but that still didn't make kidnapping her the right thing to do. He felt a strange kind of moral outrage about it and it only solidified the moral warping of Tristan and Kaiba. Kidnapping a pregnant woman was never the right thing to do no matter what your motives.

For a few moments after they arrived in the heavens, Duke found himself staring around with a mystified sense of wonder. Beside him Téa did the same. The first thing he noted was how white everything was. The tiled floors, the embossed ceilings, the walls, everything was white with maybe the hint of grey patterns here and there. It gave Duke the strange sensation of being stood surrounded by shiny white clouds, something only emphasised by the way light bounced around the room.

'This place is... different,' Duke held his hand into one of the shafts of light for a moment. 'It's nothing like I imagined it would be.'

'It's this way for a reason,' the SK-Jay hybrid tilted his head in thought. 'A lot of the higher beings and gods, including the Mistresses, need this level of light to maintain themselves.

'But the Mistresses aren't up here anymore,' Téa frowned, 'does that mean being hosted by Joey, Yugi and Kaiba is actually harmful to them?'

'Yes and no. Their needs have changed slightly since they entered their host bodies. But living on the mortal planes is definitely not as good for them as living up here.'

'It's still hard to imagine what living up here is really like,' Duke lowered his arm and re-examined his surroundings.

'You get used to it,' the SK-Jay hybrid shrugged. 'Now come on, we've got a lot to do right now.'

'So where do we start?' Duke folded his arms.

'With Ahna,' his jaw line hardened. 'She has to be our top priority right now. Her and her baby.'

'Agreed,' Duke nodded.

'Explain to me why Tristan and Kaiba want this baby so badly?' Téa frowned for a moment.

'I can't be completely sure, but I think it has something to do with the kid also being the child of the First and Gan. Before SK pulled the Jay part of me out of there, Kaiba and Tristan had talked about how powerful the child is. Powerful enough to change things.'

'There's that _C_ word again,' Duke rolled his eyes. 'Tristan clearly came back stuck on the same broken record he left on.'

'Only this time he's actually planning to do something about it,' the SK-Jay hybrid licked his lips.

'Are things really that broken?' Téa pulled a face. 'I mean, everything seems to work okay to me.'

'In your reality maybe, but there are others who aren't so lucky,' he tilted his head to one side. 'To be honest with you the answer to your question is more complicated than I'd like to admit and even the Jay part of me doesn't fully understand it.'

'So do things really need to change?' Téa rephrased her question.

'Yeah, I think they do, but not in the way Tristan and Kaiba want.'

'Or in the way the Pure and Win want either, right?' Duke cocked an eyebrow.

'Right,' the hybrid nodded.

'So what happens once we find Ahna?'

'We get her somewhere safe and protect her until the Pure, Kaiba, Win and Tristan have been dealt with,' the hybrid shrugged, 'there really isn't much else we can do.'

'And what happens after that?' Téa's voice was strangely mute. 'I mean, this baby Ahna's having, it is Joey's too, isn't it?'

'Yeah... it is.'

'So after this whole mess is over Ahna and Joey are going to have a kid on their hands.'

'A pretty powerful one too, from what you're saying,' Duke narrowed his gaze on the SK-Jay hybrid for a moment. 'One which will need a pretty strong guiding hand to keep it in check.'

'What are you trying to say?' The SK-Jay hybrid licked his lips again.

'I'm trying to say this baby is going to need both of its parents.'

'What makes you think I don't agree with you?'

'Right now part of you is Jay and I'm not sure I trust that part completely.'

'Just what do you think I'm planning to do, run off with the baby myself?'

'No, but I think if Ahna asked you to hide her and the baby from Joey you'd do it.'

'You've said yourself this baby is going to need both of its parents and I agree with you.'

'But what if Ahna doesn't? What then?'

'I'm still fifty percent SK you know, I'm not going to let her just run off into the night.'

'Hmm,' Duke half turned away from him, 'I'm not totally sure if I believe you.'

'Well whatever you feel about the situation right now you have no choice but to trust me. Ahna needs our help.'

'You're right, she does, I know that.'

'So then let's go help her,' the SK-Jay hybrid almost sounded too insistent.

'Okay,' Duke nodded, 'let's go.'

* * *

Covo had no idea who the third boy with Kaiba and Veronie was, but something told him the situation was about to turn from bad to worse. It felt as though everyone in the room was holding their breaths with the same tense kind of anticipation. Everyone, that is, expect for Veronie, who rushed towards the cage Mai was in and focused on trying to free her.

'What's with the white glaze over their eyes,' Covo kept his voice as low as possible as he hissed his question at Jay-Octan.

'They're the Mistresses right now,' Jay-Octan's gaze was focused on Kaiba, 'she must be tricking them somehow.'

'What...?'

Before Covo could finish his question the Ice Staff appeared in Kaiba's hands. The unknown red head took several steps back, words trembled across his lips, but no sound came out. Veronie was too focused on freeing Mai from the cage to sense the impending danger. Covo tried to get out a warning of his own, only to find his voice had deserted him. He glanced around at the others, silently begging one or all of them to speak up if they could. But it was no good. They were all under the same spell of silence. They were all being forced to watch as the staff Kaiba was holding connected with the back of Veronie's head.

The heavy clunking sound was followed by a sharp gasp as Veronie's body slowly crumpled to the ground. The look on Kaiba's face as he stood over him was hard to read and it sent shivers running up and down Covo's spine.

'Sister...?' The red headed boy found his voice. 'I... I don't understand...'

'Don't tell me this has taken you by surprise,' Kaiba rolled his white glazed eyes. 'I'm a telepath, remember? I know full well you were thinking I was leading you into a trap.'

'Yes, but...'

'You were hoping and praying you were wrong, because I'm you precious baby sister who might fight and argue with the First all the time but would never actually do anything to change the status quo.'

'I...'

'Things need to change sister; you know that as well as I do.'

'But this isn't the way to go about it Pure,' the read headed boy shook his head.

'What other way is there? The First won't do anything. You won't do anything. The only way I can make change happen is by taking you out.'

'I don't honestly believe what I'm hearing right now,' he backed away. 'Who are you and what have you done with my sister.'

'And here was me hoping you would stand behind us,' Kaiba lowered his head slightly. 'I have always shown you more respect than the First after all, haven't I? We have the opportunity to completely readdress the balance here and if you play your cards right you could end up in a much better position than the one you have now.'

'But I like the position I have now,' the red headed boy folded his arms.

'Don't make me laugh,' Kaiba flicked his gaze up towards him. 'You hate being the piggy in the middle; the one whose opinion doesn't matter. You want things to change as much as I do.'

'Not like this I don't,' the read headed boy placed his hands over his ears. 'This isn't right Pure and you know it.'

'You're wrong,' Kaiba grabbed hold of the boy's arms and pulled his hands back down, 'this is what has to happen now. Don't you get it? Regardless of what happens next, things will change. Chaos is coming; it's in the storm, can't you feel it?'

'Chaos?' He looked confused.

'Chaos,' Kaiba repeated, 'it's coming and there's nothing you can do about it.'


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

Mai's gut wrenched in horror as she watched Kaiba chain Joey to the wall. Her eyes turned towards Yugi, silently pleading with him to do something other than stand there. But it was hopeless, Yugi, or rather the Face of Friendship, had apparently decided to help Kaiba rather than oppose him. The thought left a sickening feeling in Mai's stomach as she tried to figure out which thought was worse, the one where Yugi betrayed Joey or the one where the Face of Friendship betrayed the First. From what she understood of the situation they two were probably on par with each other and ultimately made everything that much more despicable.

'Chaos?' The word sounded dry and strange as Yugi finally broke the silence. 'What chaos?'

'A kind of chaos which is beyond even my explanation,' Kaiba met his gaze, 'but trust me when I say you won't be disappointed with it.'

'But chaos is a bad thing,' Yugi shook his head, 'how can you be advocating it?'

'Because chaos brings about change.'

'There's that word again,' he half lowered his gaze, 'change. You talk about changing things. You say things are changing or that they need to change and I know you're right, but... how can chaos bring about a good change?'

'We didn't understand it either at first.'

'We?' Yugi met his gaze again.

'Win and I,' a strange smile shifted across Kaiba's face. 'It felt like such an odd concept, but the more we looked into it the more we realised it was always meant to happen. And when the storm hit we knew it had to happen now,' he stared up at the ceiling for a moment. 'The kid was wrong when he said delaying it wouldn't change things. It would change everything and not in the way we want.'

'The kid?' Yugi frowned. 'What kid?'

'It doesn't matter, all you need to know is that we were working with him, but we're not anymore. And even he himself admitted his was trying to stop the wrong event,' Kaiba tilted his head to one side for a moment, 'at least I assume that's what he meant.'

'What he meant by what?'

'It doesn't matter; it's not important right now. All I need to know is whether or not you're with me,' Kaiba met his gaze. 'Your place in what's to come hasn't been decided yet. You don't have to live in the shadows of me and the First anymore. So I'm telling you now sister, you won't regret helping us, I promise.'

* * *

Covo let out a strange breath as he realised just how serious the situation was getting. If they weren't careful it would turn titanic pretty damn quickly. As carefully and quietly as he could he moved himself as close to Jay-Octan and Catilin as possible. Then, keeping half an eye on Kaiba just in case, he focused his attention on getting some answers.

'So who is that kid? The one hosting the Face of Friendship I mean.'

'You're kidding, right?' Jay-Octan smirked. 'I'm dead and even I knew who he was the first time I met him.'

'I...' Covo shook his head.

'He's the King of Games,' Catilin giggled, 'Yugi Motou.'

'Never heard of him.'

'You're kidding, right?' Jay-Octan cocked an eyebrow.

'Not really.'

'Great, next you'll be telling me you've never even heard of Duel Monsters.'

'No, I've heard of Duel Monsters, but I can't say it ever really interested me,' Covo shrugged. 'I'm not really big on the whole playing games thing anyway, I prefer to read. Korin on the other hand...'

'Korin?' Catilin's eyes glinted with curiosity. 'Is she...?'

'My friend. My childhood friend,' he cut her off before she could finish her question.

'Your friend,' she lowered her head a little, 'exactly what I thought.'

'So is this Yugi guy affecting the Face of Friendship in the same way we think Kaiba and the Pure are influencing each other?' Covo deliberately brought the conversation back to its original point.

'What makes you ask that?' Jay-Octan frowned.

'Well it's pretty clear the Face of Friendship is contemplating the Pure's offer right now. So would this Yugi guy take an offer like this from Kaiba seriously? Remember I don't know the first thing about either of them.'

'Unfortunately this has more to do with the Mistresses and less to do with their hosts,' Jay-Octan gave a heavy sigh. 'Of the three sisters the Pure has always been the most manipulative. Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying she does things like this all the time or anything like that. In fact most of the time she's the one being outvoted and shouted down. But she knows how to play her sisters, especially the Face of Friendship.'

'But the First plays the Face of Friendship just as much,' Catilin pulled a face. 'They both treat her like a rope in their tug of war struggle just because she's an empath.'

'Well that's true,' he laughed, 'but then she's normally the deciding vote so you need to get her on side, right?'

'I'm sure you've helped the First out with that on occasion,' Catilin shot him a look.

'Yeah, well... I might have been the _Mistresses_' Helper, but I was kind of attached to the First. Which is a shame really, since a lot of the time I actually agreed with the Pure.'

'I never really thought about the Mistresses disagreeing about anything before,' Covo flicked his gaze back towards Yugi and Kaiba. 'But then I've never really thought about them as being _sisters_ before.'

'I wonder how long it'll take before the Face of Friendship cracks,' Jay-Octan pressed his lips together. 'I've no doubt the Pure's using her telepathy to gain an upper hand right now.'

'The Face of Friendship won't fall for it though, will she?' Covo felt more than mildly concerned.

'I don't know, with the First unconscious this really could go either way right now.'

'I can't betray the First,' Yugi shook his head, silencing all other conversation. 'No matter how tempting it is, I just can't do it. She's our sister. Our leader. She always has been. No matter what it is coming we're strongest together. And we're strongest with her in charge.'

'You honestly still believe that,' Kaiba rolled his eyes.

'I have to.'

'You're just kidding yourself if you think we're better off with the First in charge. Her way of thinking... her way of doing things... it's destroying us. Don't you see that? All she ever does is sit there and let things happen. She only acts when she absolutely has to and even then... even then she never does enough. Look at the Reganna fiasco; it took her three attempts to get it right.'

'Yes but...'

'Do you really think she can handle the chaos that's coming? I'm a balance and I'm not even sure I can handle it, but at least I'm willing to try. Do you think the First is willing to try?'

'She doesn't even know...'

'Only because she chooses not to. We've all sensed the same thing approaching. We've all known this has been coming for a long time. So why am I the only one who knows what it is?'

'I... I don't know,' Yugi turned his gaze away.

'Yes you do. You know it as well as I do. I'm the one who's ready for it because I'm the one this change is happening for. Not you, not the First, but me. That's why I'm the one who can offer you anything you desire out of this sister, don't kid yourself into think the First would ever do the same.'

* * *

His attitude was really starting to get on her nerves. The cool distance. The constant conversational swing between trading insults and repeating the same information he'd given before. The way he was still refusing to make her any more comfortable, even though her labour was pretty far on now. It made her wonder if this really was the friend Joey had told her so much about when they'd first met. Joey had talked a lot about his friends at first, then things began to wear on him and conversation between the two of them waned to whatever it was the darkness in Catilin had wanted them to talk about. Still Ahna had never forgotten what Joey had said about each of his friends; who knew his description of one of them would end up being so wrong.

'What happened to the staff,' Ahna gritted her teeth against a contraction as she tried to force conversation between them.

'You've only just noticed that it's gone?' Tristan cocked an eyebrow.

'I apologise, the labour is kind of distracting.'

'Whatever,' he rolled his eyes. 'Since your labour began we didn't need all eight to be here, we just took them so your little friends wouldn't have the opportunity to use them. I guess the Pure felt the need to borrow one back.'

'I see, but...'

'Shh,' he hushed her as he turned his head to the side and frowned. 'Did you hear that?'

'Hear what?' Ahna shook her head.

'That...' he made his way towards the door. 'You...? What are you doing here? I thought you said you weren't going to...'

'I'm not here for that,' an unknown male voice sounded from the corridor outside, 'but the way things happened before, you need to leave her now and go help the Pure.'

'_You_ want me to leave her unguarded?' Tristan folded his arms. '_You're_ the one who wanted to stop this child from being born now.'

'And I was wrong, okay, so sue me. Everybody else was right about this storm, so don't you dare rub it in, because I'm sure I'll be getting enough of that when I return home. But the problem I'm facing right now is that I've changed things so much I'm at risk of changing a detail which didn't need to be changed. Heck, one I really don't want to be changed. So you need to leave her now and go help the Pure.'

'And if I don't?'

'Either you go willingly or I will make you go.'

'Whatever kid,' Tristan unfolded his arms and made his way out of the room, 'but if this is some kind of trick on your part, I swear...'

As their voices drifted up the corridor away from her, Ahna felt her heart start to beat in fear. How... how could he just leave her like this? Didn't he realise how close she was getting to giving birth? And just who the hell was it he was talking to anyway? A part of her remembered the _kid_ Tristan had briefly mentioned earlier and her stomach knotted.

'Tristan?' Ahna's voice quivered with fear. 'Tristan you can't leave me. Not now. Tristan?' Her fear dissolved into panic. 'TRISTAN!'

* * *

There was something about the shrill and terrified way she was shouting which sent chills running up and down Téa's spine. They didn't even bother exchanging glances, it was obvious they needed to pick up their pace and quickly. It didn't take them long to arrive at the room Ahna was being held in. Téa felt physically sick when she saw the way the poor girl was being held. Between the bed she was chained to and the circle of weapons on the floor around her Téa's mind felt almost numb. How... how could Tristan do this to anyone? When did this become acceptable to him? When did he change into something she couldn't even recognise anymore?'

'Help me, please,' Ahna's voice quivered as her body squirmed with a mixture of panic and pain. 'Please help me. I... I don't want my baby born like this. Please... please...'

'Where are Tristan and Kaiba,' Duke glanced about nervously.

'I... I don't know,' her breath was jagged. 'Kaiba left a while ago and... and some kid just... just made Tristan leave too.'

'Some kid?' The SK-Jay hybrid frowned. 'What kid?'

'I... I don't know,' her voice broke with pain. 'But... but I... I think the kid helped them with all this somehow. I... I'm not sure. I... I just...'

'It's okay,' the hybrid approached her, 'you need to calm down; this stress isn't good for you or the baby.'

'Don't... don't you think I know that,' her head shivered from side to side, 'but it's pretty hard to calm down when madmen have you chained to a bed, forcing you to give birth prematurely whilst threatening to take you baby away from you. And... and on top of that they left me here to give birth on my own,' her face crumpled. 'Tell me... tell me how I'm supposed to stay calm.'

'Why did they leave you on your own,' Duke sounded mildly suspicious.

'I don't know. The kid said something about Tristan needing to go help the Pure, but he also implied it was just so I would be left on my own. He... he said it was important, but... but I don't really understand why. I... I mean...'

'Maybe he knew we were coming,' Duke's eyes shot towards the doorway, 'maybe this is some kind of trap.'

'Trap or not our top priority right now has to be Ahna,' the SK-Jay hybrid began stroking the sweat damp hair back from Ahna's forehead.

'Then you're the one who'll have to stay alert,' Téa swallowed hard.

'What?'

'I agree,' Duke moved towards the bed. 'You're the only one of us with any power. Téa and I will take care of Ahna; you have to be the one to protect us.'


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

Covo gave a heavy sigh and felt like rolling his eyes the second Tristan entered the room. Then his stomach spiked with fear as he realised no one was now with Ahna. Did that mean her child had been born already? He couldn't see what other reason Tristan would have to leave her on her own. But if her child had been born then where was it. Both Tristan and Kaiba had made it pretty clear they weren't going to leave it with Ahna so...?'

'What are you doing here?' Kaiba interrupted Covo's train of thought.

'The kid said I needed to help you,' Tristan rolled his eyes.

'The kid wanted you to leave Ahna on her own and you agreed?'

'He said it was important,' Tristan folded his arms.

'And you believed him?'

'Ahna is too far gone for him to reverse the process.'

'That doesn't mean he won't try to take it for himself,' Kaiba looked angry.

'I don't think he will. He's never been interested in the child like that. His goal has always been to make sure it ends up in our hands. You know that.'

'Doesn't mean this isn't some huge trick on his part. The more I think about the kid's method, the more I question just what his ultimate goal is.'

'His ultimate goal is the same as ours,' Tristan half turned away from him. 'He wants to change things.'

'That doesn't mean he wants to change things in the same way we do.'

'Maybe not, but I believe he's still an ally.'

There were a few prolonged moments of silence, which were abruptly ended by Kaiba grunting and rolling his eyes.

'Okay, so the kid's on our side, that doesn't mean you should have agreed to leave Ahna alone like that.'

'Maybe not, but I'm interested to see what this... event the kid's hoping will happen is.' Tristan paused for a moment. 'So what exactly is going on here?'

'I was just trying to persuade the Face of Friendship to join us.'

'Persuade or force?' Tristan cocked an eyebrow.

'Persuade, naturally.'

Tristan unfolded his arms and reached his right hand out in front of himself for a moment. He then half closed his eyes and appeared to try and sense something in the air in front of him. When he opened his eyes again, his less than pleased gaze was focused on Kaiba.

'Persuading someone does not involve forcibly trying to change their mindset you know.'

'Who said I was doing it forcibly?' Kaiba shrugged.

'Telepathic manipulation leaves a trace you know.'

'You said manipulation, not force,' Kaiba smugly folded his arms.

'As if the wording makes a huge difference, it still comes down to the same thing. You're trying to change her mind against her will.'

'As if you wouldn't do the same.'

'I wouldn't,' Tristan took several steps towards him. 'Now stop what you're doing and let her make her mind up on her own.'

'She'll just choose the First if we do; you heard what the kid said about that as well as I did.'

'I also remember him saying just how much trouble you running round manipulating people caused.' Tristan cocked an eyebrow. 'All you're doing now is repeating the same mistakes he warned us about.'

'Not exactly,' Kaiba half turned away from him. 'From what he told us we failed only because we were fighting over whether there should be one Win or multiple Wins. He said a battle of wills took place between us here which rocked our unity and caused us to fail. We don't have that battle of wills this time, because we both agreed the Win situation could wait.'

'Considering I'm also able to sense the progress of the Wins...'

'My split consciousness was responsible for that,' Kaiba shook his head. 'Besides, knowing what the kid told us we both agreed multiple would be better. So there is no battle of wills here. No argument over the Win problem.'

'So you thought creating another problem would be a good idea?'

'If we can get the Face of Friendship on side then we might not fail.'

Tristan appeared to mull this over for a few moments.

'No,' he eventually shook his head, 'if she's to join us I want it to be by her own free will; it's a hollow victory else.'

'So you want me to stop?'

'That question doesn't deserve an answer Pure. Stop trying to force her hand and let her come to her own decision about this one.'

'Fine,' Kaiba shrugged, 'but if it leads to her picking the First...'

'We'll deal with it,' he smirked, 'besides; I kind of liked the idea that it was us against the world.'

* * *

The Face of Friendship felt the mental pressure lift and almost found herself gasping in relief. Her eyes then flicked between the Pure and Tristan, before focusing fully on Tristan. Some instinct was telling her he was Win, but the lack of white glaze over his eyes made it impossible for her to know for sure. She knew from the First's initial experience within her host that they didn't need to go all out in order to control the bodies they were in. The white glaze over the eyes was optional and was mostly done for the sake of those around them. It made things less confusing; although right now she wasn't sure if it was possible to make things less confusion.

Instead she tried to concentrate on the emotions flowing between the two of them. They were strong, but for some reason were being forcibly suppressed. The Face of Friendship couldn't help but frown; she didn't think the Pure knew how to suppress her emotions. The Pure might have mastered emotional confusion in order to put the Face of Friendship off of what she was actually feeling, but emotional suppression... that had always been the First's trick, not the Pure's.

She wasn't the only one doing it either. It painted a strange picture for the Face of Friendship; one she wasn't totally sure she understood. But one which told her their hosts still had some kind of grip on what was happening. It made her think about Yugi; was he able to influence her as well? A strange feeling shifted through her, a strong feeling which made her almost certain he could.

* * *

Ahna was exhausted, but it was a good kind of exhaustion. The kind of exhaustion which was mixed with the joy of knowing you'd done something of great importance. Now she waited for the SK-Jay hybrid to free her from her chains so she could hold her baby for the first time. As he worked on freeing her, Duke was the one left holding the baby, gently rocking the child from side to side.

'I'll replace your jacket once this is all over,' Ahna smiled weakly at him as the last of the chains were broken.

'It's alright, I've got hundreds just like these,' Duke's gaze was focused on the child. 'You can just keep this one, consider it baby's first blanket,' he laughed.

'Thanks,' she wiggled down the bed towards him, 'can I...?'

'As much as I'd like you to have your first cuddle, I'm afraid you'll have to put that on hold for now,' the SK-Jay hybrid put a hand out in front of her. 'We have to deal with Tristan and Kaiba first.'

'But one little cuddle won't hurt,' she stared at him.

'The second you hold that child you're not going to want to leave it and I need you to. I'm sorry Ahna, but until you baby is safe I need you focused on taking care of any and all threats Tristan and Kaiba prove right now.'

'That's a little unfair, don't you think,' Téa gawked at him. 'I mean, she's just given birth, she's in no state to be doing anything right now. And how can you deny a mother her first cuddle with her own baby.'

'Because I have to,' the SK-Jay hybrid licked his lips. 'Don't you get it? This child is too important to the universe for Ahna to be powerless to protect it. The only way for her to get her powers back is to redeem herself in the eyes of the Mistresses and the only way that's going to happen is if she comes with me now.'

'But she's exhausted, what good is she to you like this?'

'Whatever good I can be,' Ahna found herself suddenly filled with a strange kind of inner strength. 'The hybrid is right; I need to be able to protect my child and in order to do that I need to get my powers back. As tired as I am and as hard as it is for me to have to do this right now, this is for the best. For the last three months my life has been nothing to me; I've been so filled with guilt and self-hated that it was threatening to consume everything I was, leaving me weak and unable to take care of my child. But I can't think that way anymore. My baby is here, in the world and needs me. I need to do this.'

'One of you two will need to look after the child,' the hybrid licked his lips again.

'It should be me,' Duke's lack of hesitation made Ahna feel a little uncertain about the situation. 'If anyone comes after the child I've more of a fighting chance than Téa does. What I mean is, I'm stronger and faster than she is. I also think you should send me back to Sil or Earth, it's not safe for us up here so close to the action.'

'Agreed,' the hybrid nodded.

'Hey,' Téa looked just as stunned as Ahna felt, 'wouldn't the child be better off...'

'No,' Duke cut her off, 'this isn't just about what's best for the child; you're better off helping them take care of Tristan. You've been friends with him for longer than I have.'

'Yes, but you were the one he trusted. You're the one who's closest to him these days.'

'Maybe, but... I'm still better suited to protect the child.'

'Okay,' Téa sighed, 'if you're going to be stubborn about this I guess I have no choice. So... good luck.'

'You too.'


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

The First felt like her head was on fire. She groaned loudly and tried to rouse herself, but her mind remained in a strange stupor.

'You have to wake up,' her host crouched down in front of her.

'Veronie... how...?'

'This is my head too, remember?' Joey rolled his eyes.

'Yes but...'

'We've never had the need to communicate when we've been unconscious before,' Joey turned his gaze away from her. 'Or rather, I've never felt the need to before,' his jaw line hardened. 'Did you know we were able to use your powers?'

'Veronie...' the First didn't know if she was annoyed or surprised by his question.

'Did you know me, Kaiba and Yugi would be able to tap into the power of our respective Mistresses, yes or no First?'

'Why is this important?'

'Because I want to know if this could have been prevented or not,' Joey flicked his gaze back towards her. 'I want to know if I could have spotted some kind of sign or... whatever to tell me things were going seriously wrong before they got this far.'

'It's not as though you've even seen Kaiba since...'

'That's because I didn't think I needed to,' Joey cut her off. 'If I thought I needed to keep an eye on him because... I don't know,' he pulled back and rubbed his neck awkwardly. 'You're worried about your sisters right now, aren't you?'

'How...?'

'I'm worried about them too,' he crouched down in front of her again. 'I feel like... I feel like they're my sisters too somehow. And I know it's stupid and I know it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I'm blaming myself for what's happening right now.'

'Uh...' the First couldn't help but gasp, 'you're blaming yourself because I'm blaming myself.'

'Well duh,' he rolled his eyes again, 'did you forget we're connected. We influence each other more than either of us realises, but we've done a good job at keeping ourselves as separate as possible. It's why I've never looked to see if I could use your powers, or it's at least one of the reasons. But Yugi's not had that choice and it's pretty clear Kaiba's gone out of his way to blur the boundary and somehow I'm left feeling like it's all my fault. So you... you need to wake up and sort this out, fast.'

'What makes you so sure I can?'

'Because you're the First,' Joey took hold of her hand and pulled her to her feet, 'and they are _your_ sisters.'

* * *

Covo was starting to feel bored. His situation was frustrating enough as it was without it getting way too repetitive. His eyes scanned around the room several times allowing him to note the bored expressions shared by Mai and Mokuba; at least he wasn't the only one wishing something else would happen now. It was strange to think just how quickly he'd become bored with the conversation going on between Kaiba, Tristan and Yugi, but since it had just started going round and round in circles it began to feel a little pointless.

_'Psst, Covo.'_ Her voice was so close to his ears it made him half jump out of his skin.

'Wh-what?'

_'Think silly, don't speak.'_ Her voice sounded again.

'I... I don't understand...'

_'Think, that way they won't hear you.'_

_ 'But if I'm thinking my replies how will you hear me?'_ Covo gave a mental sigh.

_'Because I'm Mind,'_ her voice laughed.

_'Wait, what?'_ Covo turned his gaze towards Catilin.

_'So you've figured it out then,' _she grinned at him, _'it's about time.'_

_ 'I don't understand, I thought you said you don't have any powers.'_

_ 'I don't have any Silkoneon powers,' _her gaze focused on Kaiba, Yugi and Tristan, _'the power block only worked on those powers. It's why I still have my Calicaccu senses. Telepathy isn't a Silkoneon power, it's a Win power.'_

_ 'Does that mean Mokuba and Mai are able to use it as well.'_

_ 'Uh-uh,' _Catilin shook her head, _'we each got a different amount of Win's powers. Between the four of us we cap each ability at one hundred percent.' _

_ 'Huh?'_

_ 'It's like this; because Body can use eighty percent of the Telepathic abilities and I can use twenty percent there's no percentage left for Mai or Mokuba to have. Get it?'_

_ 'I think so.'_

_ 'Body has the highest percentage of all the abilities, that's why he's the only one who could become Win on his own. The rest of us are just incomplete parts in comparison.'_

_ 'So you're saying he is Win?'_

_ 'No, but not not no at the same time.'_

_ 'I don't get it.'_

_ 'It's easy silly, he will be Win one day, but he's not Win yet.'_

_ 'Okay, I think I understand.' _Covo tried to sound mentally more confident than he felt. _'So what's with the telepathy?'_

_ 'Must all your questions be so silly?' _Catilin giggled.

_ 'I don't see how it's a silly question,'_ he frowned.

_'It is when the answers so obvious Covo,' _she smirked, _'I need your help, duh.'_

* * *

'Interesting,' the hybrid cocked an eyebrow as his gaze flicked around the room the others were being held hostage in.

'At what point did they capture Joey?' Téa hesitated for a moment. 'And why is Yugi...'

'For a start Téa, that's the Face of Friendship and the First, not Joey and Yugi.'

'You say tomatoe, I say tomato,' Téa shrugged. 'Just what the hell is going on?'

'It's all my fault,' Yugi turned towards them as though their conversation were suddenly the most important one going on. 'I should have sensed what was going on. I should have known something like this was coming. What good is being an empath if you don't listen to the pain around you?'

'You think this has anything to do with pain?' Kaiba laughed. 'Don't you get it sister, this is about change; things need to change.'

'No it's about more, it's about so much more,' he gripped the material above his heart and dropped to his knees. 'I can feel the chaos, the power of the storm, everything. Things are spiralling out of our control and yet are completely in our control at the same time. What we've been sensing is pain. The multiverse is in pain and I didn't know it. It's trying to change things to repair the damage, to heal the pain, but I don't know if it'll be enough. How did I not know it was pain? How could I not see that?'

'What do you mean the multiverse is in pain,' the hybrid took several steps towards Yugi.

'I... I don't know...' Yugi shook his head, 'but... it's been driving you crazy, hasn't it?' He flicked his gaze towards Tristan.

Tristan's eyes lowered as a white glaze slowly crossed over them. His hand gripped the material above his heart as his face filled with a tense kind of understanding.

'I couldn't explain what I was feeling,' Tristan's voice was mute, 'I just knew things had to change.'

'It was pain,' Yugi's voice cracked with the strain of his own words, 'a deep, unhealing pain which seeped into the very depths of the balance. That's why... that's why you knew you had to do something about it,' his eyes flicked to meet with the glazed eyes of Kaiba. 'The balance was in as much pain as the rest of the multiverse and you knew... you knew you had to do something about it. You didn't understand why things needed to change, but you knew... you knew better than we did. We should have listened to you. But because we didn't... because we allowed the multiverse to be in so much pain, things have spiralled out of control. It's all out of control. There's nothing but chaos right now and the multiverse is in more pain than ever. I beg you little sister, stop what you're doing now and help me restore order.'

'That's what I want, I want to restore order, but an order where the First doesn't stop us from acting just because she can.'

'Sister we need the First to fix this.'

'Are you sure about that?'

'I... I don't know,' Yugi clutched the sides of his head, 'there's so much pain and chaos right now. I just want it to stop.'

'Join me and I can help you do that. If things change then order will be restored.'

'I don't know if that's what I want. I don't know what it is I want. I just know... I just know everything's in pain and I want the pain to stop.'

* * *

For the second time in her life Mai felt a strange kind of bond forming between her and Mokuba. It was an unspoken kind of bond which almost felt as though they could read each others' thoughts without the need for telepathy. It was a sense which was slowly building and one which had been stretching its way out towards Catilin ever since she revealed herself as Mind.

It was how Mai knew Catilin was currently in actual telepathic communication with Covo. It was how she knew with such certainty what the three of them were silently planning. Escape. They were planning their escape. They needed to escape in order to tackle the mess which was tearing at the seams of everything around them; maybe not literally, but that's what it felt like to Mai.

The second Yugi had started talking about chaos and pain, Mai felt as though she knew exactly what he meant. She could sense it too, maybe not on the same level as him, but she could sense it. It was one of the things she was now silently convey to Mokuba as they put the final touches of their plan together. She had to make sure he understood their work wouldn't be finished once they were free. Mai could sense Catilin was already anticipating the same; she didn't need to tell the Silkoneon queen to prepare, but then Mai already knew she wouldn't have to.

It was time for the three fragments of Win to prove Tristan wrong; that his will was not enough to decide their joint fate. Because they were the Heart, Mind and Soul of Win and he... he was just the Body.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

'Why aren't you waking up,' Joey gritted his teeth again, 'what are you so afraid of?'

'Haven't we already had this part of the conversation?' The First frowned at him. 'Isn't it followed by the part where you tell me you understand my concern for my sisters because you feel it too?'

'Is there a correct answer to that question?' Joey ran his fingers back through his hair. 'You're the one making this conversation go in circles you know.'

'I...'

'You're afraid to face them, I get it, but you will have to eventually.'

'But what if I don't like what I find?' The First lowered her gaze. 'What if the Pure... what if she's beyond my reach?'

'You won't know until you face her. You have to face her. You have to bring her back under your control.'

'But what if she's right?'

'About what?' Joey stared at her. 'About things needing to change? Of course she's right about that, we both know it. But the way she's trying to bring about change... she's being selfish and we both know this is just as much about her taking power as it is about her bringing about change. You've said it yourself, many times, she's too emotional to be in control.'

'But at least she acts. At least she has the guts to try. I'm just stubborn and frozen in place.'

'No, you're not,' Joey placed his hands on her shoulders. 'You understand the difference between when you need to act and when it's better to do nothing. You don't rush into anything, you take your time and figure out the best outcome rather than charging in head long and causing more problems than you fix. I wish I could be more like that sometimes.'

'But most of the time I do nothing.'

'That's the Pure talking, not you. That's the way she perceives you. That's the way you let her perceive you because she doesn't understand the subtlety of what you do. First we both know the multiverse is and has always been in safe hands with you at the helm. You can't let the Pure takeover like this, she's already creating so much chaos.'

'You're right,' the First stared upwards, 'I can feel it.'

'So can I. So can everyone. The Pure is causing this by trying to change the order of things. It cannot be allowed.'

'I know.'

'Then you have to wake up. You have to knock some sense into her.'

'I know.'

'Then stop wasting your time here and wake the hell up First.'

* * *

Ahna felt as though she was being torn in several directions at once. She felt as though she should be paying attention to the conversation going on between the two conscious Mistress' hosts, Win and the others, but at the same time she was concerned about those currently in chains or cages. Because of this a part of her was trying to figure out a way of sneaking her way round to them and freeing them from their various binds, but she was still weak and tired from giving birth and there was just no way she could move without someone alerting everyone.

Her eyes turned pleadingly towards Téa, but the other girl's attention was fixed on the conversation.

'Téa,' she hissed, hoping to get her attention, 'Téa.'

It was useless; she was useless. Instead her attention turned towards the SK-Jay hybrid, he was too involved in the conversation to suddenly help her out, she got that. But if she could somehow get a message to him to keep the others distracted then maybe...

Her train of thoughts and the conversation in front of her were both interrupted by a single loud groan. Everyone's eyes turned towards Joey's body as the First Mistress of Light regain consciousness.

* * *

He bounce-rocked the infant from side to side, but it was no good, the poor thing just wouldn't settle. Normally Duke would have been the first to point out he wasn't exactly parent material. Hell he wasn't even good babysitting material, so why he'd agreed to be the one to look after the fussy little thing in the first place he didn't know. But every time he felt like he couldn't take it anymore, he looked down at the child and was filled with this overwhelming feeling of love.

'You're not even my kid and I feel like I'm your daddy,' Duke smiled down at the baby during a brief moment of silence. 'That's right, I'm not your daddy,' he cooed, 'I wish I was, but I'm not.' He laughed at his own statement. 'What am I saying? I mean...' he felt strangely awkward as the child started fussing again, 'I'm not saying I don't want to be your daddy I just... Well it's uh... it's very confusing, you get that don't you?' He shook his head at his own words. 'What am I saying, you're a baby, you don't understand a single word I'm saying right now do you? Hey, hey, hey shhh, stop that fussing for uncle Duke, would you? Come on shhh, it'll be okay, I don't know how yet but I know everything will be okay.'

* * *

Octan might not have been able to breathe, but he felt as though he were holding his breath as he watched the First's host stutter like some old car back into consciousness. In a spasm like motion Joey pulled his right arm forward only to have its motion hindered by the chain it was attached too. He groaned again in a mixture of heavy realisation and muted pain. His eyes fluttered open to reveal their still glazed over state and lifted without hesitation to meet with the Kaiba's.

'Did you enjoy your little nap sister,' Kaiba smirked.

'I've had better,' Joey's multi-tonal voice was calm as he manoeuvred his arm in order to check the back of his head. 'Were you always this violent or is it just the testosterone talking?'

'What was that?' Kaiba's eyes burnt with anger as he pointed the Ice Staff he was still holding towards Joey.

'Come on sister, you know as well as I do by now our hosts are having an effect on us. And since our hosts are male I don't see anything wrong with the question I've just asked.'

'You're just trying to piss me off now, aren't you?'

'You mean I didn't have to try before?'

'Shut up First and try taking a look around you,' Kaiba pulled himself up to his full height, 'things have changed.'

'You're right; I could sense the chaos even whilst I was unconscious.'

'Then you know your reign is over, right?' A huge smile filled his face. 'I'm the only one who has what it takes to handle the change. A new order will be starting today; an order where the balance is on top, because you need balance in order to control chaos.'

'Is that what you think?'

'It's what I know First,' Kaiba took a few steps towards him, 'but don't worry, if you side with me quietly then I promise you won't feel put out by any of this. The other half of my consciousness even made sure you have your own Win, all powered up and ready to go.'

Joey's glazed eyes flicked towards Mai for a moment, then turned back towards Kaiba. There were a few long beats of silence, before Kaiba lowered his head slightly and smirked again.

'What's the matter First, your Win not good enough for you? Okay, yours is merely a part in comparison to mine, but at least none of us will have to share anymore.'

'You think this proves anything,' Joey shook his head. 'The Win parts would have awoken on their own eventually anyway and as for sharing... Well, we always knew I had Win's heart.'

'You bitch,' Kaiba made to attack Joey with the Staff again, but Tristan caught hold of the weapon before it could deliver its blow.

'She's just trying to unbalance you,' Tristan's glazed eyes fixed on Joey. 'She thinks if she gets you angry enough you'll forget what we're trying to do here and that will give her the opening she needs to take back control. Remember the plan. Remember why we're doing this.'

'Of course,' the tension in Kaiba's body melted for a moment. 'We're doing this because things need to change.'

'Exactly,' Tristan nodded, 'and we need to be the ones controlling that change, because we understand the change.'

'Yes,' Kaiba lowered the weapon he was holding so the tip of it touched the ground, 'we do.'

'So stop letting her rattle you and remember why we're doing this.'

'I will,' Kaiba's glazed eyes focused on Joey, 'and soon she'll understand all this too.'

* * *

'_Could you go over that one more time?' _Covo glanced towards Catilin. _'I'm still not totally sure I get what you want me to do.'_

_ 'Silly Covo,' _Catilin's voice laughed thought his mind, _'it's not that hard to understand.'_

_ 'I know, but humour me, this situation is getting more and more complicated by the second and I need to know I'm on the same wavelength as everyone else here.'_

_ 'I thought you were smarter than this Covo. I thought you were the...'_

_ 'I know what I am. I know that I'm actually grasping this situation pretty damn well considering, but I still need you to explain it to me one more time.'_

_ 'Why?'_

_ 'Because this situation couldn't be any more maddening if it tried and I really need to find the sanity in it.'_

_ 'And explaining things again will give you that sanity?'_

_ 'I don't know,' _Covo shook his head, _'but right now anything's worth a try.'_


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

The First met the Pure's gaze once more and held it for as long as possible. In the past this had been one of the many ways she'd been able to bring the Pure back under control. The youngest sister of Light wasn't easily unnerved, but the First had more than a few tricks up her sleeves to make her little sister uncomfortable.

'I'm not a child anymore First,' the Pure folded her arms, 'you can't intimidate me so easily anymore.'

'Who says I'm trying to intimidate you?'

'Because I know you and I'm telling you now it's not going to work.'

'Release me from these binds,' the First gritted her teeth.

'Not until you agree to follow the new order of things.'

'Really? You're really going to pull this one on me? This is how you're going to prove to me you're not a child anymore?'

'You're just trying to rile me again, but I'm telling you it won't work,' the Pure shook her head.

'Of course it will work, you have a temper shorter than a piece of confetti,' the Silkoneon boy chained up alongside the First spoke, his words causing the First to raise an eyebrow at him.

'And who exactly do you think you are talking to me like that?' The Pure took a step towards him. 'You're nothing more than an inconvenient hitchhiker in this little situation. The only good you've done is helping them bring the Elemental Weapons here.'

'It's funny you should mention those,' the Bow suddenly appeared in his hand, 'I was just thinking about them myself.'

'How...?'

'Mind,' Tristan gritted his teeth and flicked his gaze towards Catilin, 'this is a cheap trick and you know it.'

'Cheap or not I'm still in the better position here,' the Silkoneon boy smirked.

'Better position to do what exactly?'

'This.'

With some effort the boy managed to arm the Bow and aim it towards the cage Mokuba was in. To begin with the First just felt confused by his actions, then she remembered the secondary function of the Fire Bow. In one swift move the flaming arrow shot across the room and into the lock of the cage, shattering it. Mokuba wasted no time in freeing himself before somehow managing to summon the Lightning Sword into his hands. Without hesitation he used the swords electrical power to slice through the lock on Mai's cage, freeing her as well.

Tristan began a slow and sarcastic clapping as Mai and Mokuba set about freeing those chained to the wall. His gaze fixed on Catilin in a harsh and deeply unamused manner.

'Well done Mind, I didn't know you had it in you.' Tristan's voice was dry and almost edge with bitterness. 'All this time I just thought you were some kind of idiot child, but I guess the sheer sadistic genius you show when you're Re really does come from something deeper.'

'I'm not an idiot child,' Catilin took the Bow off of Covo and aimed it at Tristan. 'I might not be the perfect Mind, but I'm still Mind. I still know things. Maybe I think a little differently, but I'm not an idiot.'

'Clearly.'

'And she's also not alone,' Mokuba's hands visible trembled as he took up a position beside Catilin, Sword aimed in the direction of his brother. 'What you're doing right now is wrong, you've both been affected by the storm and this needs to stop.'

'No,' the sound of the Face of Friendship's voice made the First's heart stop dead in her chest, 'this needs to continue.'

'Sister you can't be serious,' the First stared at her as she pulled herself to her feet.

'I know it's crazy, but... I am serious,' the Water Whip appeared in her hands, 'we can't talk sense into them, so this is the only way.'

* * *

'Shh, shh little one, its okay, your uncle Duke's here, come on kid, quieten down, please.' Duke felt as though his sanity was starting to crack. 'Come on, come on now, please.'

'He's just hungry,' a beautiful young woman with jet black hair in a black Grecian style dress appeared beside him. 'Here,' she held a bottle filled with what looked like milk out towards him.

'Who are you?' Duke eyed the woman and the bottle suspiciously.

'Someone who wouldn't normally take such an interest in the living, but since the one who wanted to be here can't and the one who should be here won't come, I figured it wouldn't hurt.'

'I... I don't understand,' he shook his head, 'who are you?'

'A friend, if that makes things easier,' her face filled with a warm smile. 'Please, I just want to help you.'

Duke hesitated for a moment, before taking the bottle off of her. The infant drank hungrily and for a few long moments everything was silent.

'Things are beginning to settle now,' the woman turned her eyes upwards, 'because everything was at such high volume, the strange dullness is making it hard for anyone to sense anyone else. It feels like chaos and I guess in a way it is.'

'I don't understand,' Duke was starting to feel like he was just repeating himself.

'I know you don't, but if I tell you too much then the one I'm helping might get into trouble for it. Hell, I'll probably get into trouble for it the second my husband finds out... _If_ he finds out; I have become a master at keeping my secrets from him over the years.'

'Your husband...?'

'Again if I answer that I risk revealing too much,' she shook her head.

'Is there anything you can tell me?' Duke found himself studying her again.

'Yes, there is one thing I can tell you, it's a message from the one who sent me,' a curious smile filled her face. 'The child you hold in your arms right now is important, but not everyone is happy about its existence. Its early birth means there is a window of vulnerability,' she paused for a moment, 'the child is on my list, make sure it doesn't stay there.'

* * *

Covo felt himself tense for a moment as the rest of the Elemental Weapons appeared in the room. They'd been directly summoned by somebody, although who remained a mystery since they'd been scattered across the floor. A long and silent stalemate circled around the room. Nobody moved. Nobody blinked and Covo was pretty sure nobody was breathing either. Maybe they weren't literally holding their breaths, but that's how it felt.

_'Pick up the Lance Covo,' _Catilin's voice moved through his mind.

_'Was it you then?'_

_ 'Does it matter, just pick up the Lance.'_

Covo carefully did as he was told, whilst Jay-Octan and the guy Catilin had informed him was a hybrid of SK and Jay reached for weapons of their own.

_'So I'm not the only one you're in communication with then?'_ Covo flicked a glance towards her as he picked up the Lance.

_'Silly Covo, you only needed to be the only one before. I need everyone now.' _As her voice passed through Covo's mind Ahna bent down and picked up the shield.

'So this really is a stalemate then,' Veronie's glazed eyes flicked around the room.

'And poor big sis is without a weapon,' Kaiba smirked, 'funny that. I guess everyone else agrees with me, why else would they leave you defenceless?'

'Because we have something to prove,' Jay-Octan positioned himself in front of Veronie.

'And you're going to prove it by defending the First,' Kaiba cocked an eyebrow at him.

'Whatever it takes for redemption,' Ahna, Catilin and the hybrid joined Jay-Octan in his defence of the First.

'How can you be so concerned about redemption,' he laughed. 'Don't you get it, things will change no matter what happens here, so just embrace it and support me.'


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

The Pure tightened her grip on the Ice Lance and waited to see what the others would do. If they were smart they would join her, after all nothing good would come of their continuing loyalty to the First. But all four of them held their ground and were eventually joined by Covo making a complete line of defence between her and her sister.

'So this is how it's going to be, is it?' The Pure shook her head. 'I'm disappointed in all of you, I really am.'

'Sooner your disappointment than your support right now,' Catilin held firm, 'the storms made you both crazy.'

'She's right,' Mokuba took up a position in front of the First, joined moments later by Mai, 'I don't want to hurt you, but I do want you to let go of my brother and end this madness.'

'Are you going to align yourself with her now as well?' The Pure flicked a glance towards the Face of Friendship. 'It's what you wanted from the start anyway, isn't it? To remain loyal to the First.'

'I...' the Face of Friendship shook her head and remained where she was. 'Right now I don't know what I want, but when I figure it out...'

'It'll be too late by then,' she cut her sister off. 'See this is why your passive nature hinders you so much, you can't even make a simple decision on your own.'

'She's right,' the First lowered her head slightly, 'your being flooded by mine and the Pure's emotions right now and it's pulling you in two. You can't make a decision because we won't let you.'

'And it's not as though you can be loyal to both of us,' the Pure rolled her eyes, 'so feel free to just stand there quivering and watch how this plays out.'

'No,' the Face of Friendship tightened her grip on the whip she was holding. 'No you don't get to just dismiss me like that.'

'So does that mean you've made up your mind then?'

'I... ah...'

'So what are you complaining about? When you prove to us you can't just be dismissed then we'll pay more attention to you, but right now we have more important things to focus on.'

'You're right,' the First flicked her gaze up to meet with the Pure's, 'and I think one of you loyal supporters needs to give up your weapon to me.'

'Here,' Octan passed her the Blade, 'there's something I've been meaning to do anyway.'

He nodded at Catilin, Mai and Mokuba, who all nodded back at him. He and the hybrid then fused together, the fusion causing a white glaze to appear over the new hybrid's eyes.

'And what exactly was the point of that?' The Pure cocked an eyebrow.

'These weapons were created to be used by the Light, right?' The hybrid ran his tongue across his lips. 'So if I'm going to use it to its full extent I need to be the Light or at least closer to it.'

'How'd you like the power of the Win parts,' Mai's gaze focused in on Tristan. 'We're not as helpless against your will as you think.'

'You still have Covo and Ahna wielding weapons,' the Pure shook her head, 'they can't use them to their full effect.'

'No, but we can damn well try,' Covo held his ground.

'Besides, the weapons have been in my family for generations,' Ahna held the shield firmly in front of her, 'we know how to use them. In fact using them is in our blood.'

'We'll see about that,' the Pure shot a stream of ice from her staff towards Ahna, finally breaking the long held standoff between them.

A wall of earth grew out of the shield, surrounding their whole group and protecting them from the icy blast.

'War time now,' Catilin grinned as the earth barrier dropped to reveal her armed bow, 'this is going to be fun.'

* * *

Almost as soon as the mysterious woman had left, the child had started fussing again. Duke sighed and stared down at the infant in despair; okay so maybe the fussing wasn't as bad as before, but he'd fed and burped the child so what was next exactly, nap time?

'Hey little one, you tired? You want to sleep now? Do you think you can sleep in my arms? Hmm? I hope you can, because uncle Duke really can't put you down right now.'

The child continued to fuss, causing something sharp in the pocket of the jacket being used as a makeshift blanket to dig into Duke's arm. For a moment Duke frowned and shifted how he was holding the child enough to pull out the enveloped he'd almost forgotten was there. The second it was in his hands the child stopped fussing.

'So that was it, huh little one,' Duke rocked the baby back and forth for a moment, 'was uncle Duke's silly letter making the blanket all scratchy? Hmm?'

The baby made a few gurgling sounds and Duke once again found himself wishing he really was the dad. His eyes then turned towards the envelope he was holding.

'I guess we can officially say something's happened to Tristan now,' he chewed his lip, 'so what do you think little one, should I open it?'

The child's baby blue eyes appeared to meet with Duke's, filling him with this strange sense of certainty that the child wanted him to open the envelope. For a moment he laughed at himself, telling himself the child was too young to be able to visually focus on anything let alone somehow silently communicate an opinion. Hell the baby was barely more than an hour old; it was ludicrous to think... Before Duke could finish his train of thoughts the child started fussing again.

'You really want me to open it, huh?' Duke did his best to retrieve the document from the envelope whilst holding the baby. 'This is nuts and I'm pretty sure you're not allowed an opinion on anything until you're at least eighteen you know.'

The baby gurgled again before settling; leaving Duke with little else he could do but shake his head and stare at the document he was now holding. With everything else going through his head, it took Duke a few minutes to really focus on what he was reading. When it finally sunk in he felt as though somebody had crashed a heavy stone through his body and into the pit of his stomach; he knew something had been up, but this...? Somewhere in the back of his head it made sense, but that didn't mean he wanted to believe it.

'Tristan...' Duke let out the breath he'd been holding.

Almost as soon as he'd finished exhaling the child in his arms gurgled again. For a moment Duke felt his head swim as the room he'd been stood in dissolved around him.

* * *

In those painful few moments the arrow flew through the air only to be met by a wall of ice several inches thick, time appeared to slow down. Every breath, every thought, every sensation had came to a near standstill as the arrow buried itself in the ice, only to clatter helplessly to the ground the second the ice melted. The second time sped up again Mokuba felt his stomach clench several times over; he didn't want to have to fight his brother. It didn't matter whether or not it was the only way to set him free from the Pure's control, the thought alone made Mokuba feel small and insignificantly helpless in the midst of an unchangeable situation.

'You should have known better Mind,' Tristan's glazed eyes focused on Catilin.

'Who says I don't?' She reloaded her Bow. 'Throw enough fire at ice, you get water. Sizzle melt,' she giggled.

'I don't get you,' he shook his head, 'one minute you speak like a rational human being, the next you shoot out drivel like some four year old who's just learnt to string coherent words together. It makes me wonder how the hell you became Mind; and then I remember you weren't chosen like the rest of us were, your position is a default of birth.'

Catilin responded to his comment by firing another arrow. But just as before Kaiba activated the Ice Staff's power in order to create a barrier of ice between them and the projectile and Mokuba found himself staring at the grounded arrow.

'It's useless Mind,' Tristan smirked, 'don't you get that? Your position is a fluke, just another one of those things you fell into; like being evil and being a queen. You may be as old as I am, but you are no match for me.'

'We should do something to help her,' Mai breathed into Mokuba's ear as she leant over him.

'But what can we do?' Mokuba shook his head. 'They're right; she's only a Win part because she's an Ashmar.'

'I don't believe that,' Mai's voice was strangely level, 'there have been plenty of Ashmars over the years, but she's the one who's here now. Everything that's happened has happened for a reason, including her being the way she is. There's something about her, about the way she is, which makes her perfect for the role she was born into. You can't say she wasn't chosen to play this role just because she inherited it.'

'Maybe,' Mokuba narrowed his gaze on her for a moment.

'So then we have to help her.'

'Okay,' he nodded, 'but where do we even begin? I feel like I'm awake and asleep at the same time right now.'

'I know what you mean, but I think that's just because everything's so crazy right now.'

'The chaos,' Mokuba tightened his grip on the Sword, 'everything is chaos right now, so everything is magnified, only... only it feels duller than before so everything is more confusing.'

'I noticed that too,' she frowned.

'What do you think it means?'

'I think it means the storm is subsiding,' she shrugged, 'but this doesn't help us or Catilin.'

'You're right, I know, but this situations been crazy from the beginning because of the storm,' Mokuba's mind felt strangely scattered, 'if the storms receding why does everything feel like it's getting more chaotic and not less?'

'We need to do something to help,' Mai's response didn't answer Mokuba's question but it didn't ignore it either.

'How?'

'By being a lighthouse in a storm,' Mai sounded strange, 'the overflow of power is intensifying the confusion the storm caused, so we have to be a lighthouse and guide the ships safely home.'

'That sounds like something Catilin would say,' Mokuba flicked a glance in her direction.

'I... I think it is,' Mai shifted her gaze towards the other girl, 'I think I'm channelled her somehow.'

'Does that mean she knows what we should do?'

'That means she knows we know what we should do Mokuba,' Mai placed a hand on his shoulder, 'we have to have a little faith.'


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

'What the...?' Duke glanced around the small room he now found himself in as he tried to get his bearings. 'Where...?'

Before he could finish his sentence the top drawer of one of the filing cabinets shot open. Cautiously Duke made his way towards it, but the second he spotted the hospital stamp on one of the files he shook his head and backed away.

'Look, I know you're trying to help kid, but I'm not doing anything illegal.' Duke wasn't sure if he felt foolish or not talking to the baby like this, but it was pretty clear the child could understand more than just cooing. 'Isn't there some other way you can show me what it is you're trying to show me?'

The drawer snapped shut again and the sound of a computer starting up caused Duke to turn towards the desk behind him. In the blink of an eye the login screen was bypassed and the computers desktop was visible.

'This doesn't make it any less illegal you know,' Duke held his distance from the computer screen. 'I can't go looking through medical files like this, no matter how important it is. There has to be some other way for you to show me what you need me to know.'

The baby gave an agitated gurgle and the image on the computer monitor began to flicker. Within seconds it was showing what appeared to be CCTV footage of the emergency ward. Duke took a few steps closer to the screen, noting the time/date stamp as he did. This wasn't new footage. Whatever it was the baby was trying to show him happened almost three months ago.

'Okay kid,' Duke's mouth felt dry as he continued to watch the screen, 'this is as close as we can get to an illegal activity, alright?' He swallowed hard. 'So what exactly is it you want to show me?'

* * *

'Nobody's where they need to be right now,' Mai's gaze flicked around the room, 'if we're going to be a lighthouse we need to get everyone in the right place.'

'Do you really have to talk like Catilin?' Mokuba shook his head. 'I get what you're saying, but I'd rather you explained it like yourself.'

'Why?'

'Because if you start talking like Catilin then I probably will as well.'

'What makes you say that?'

'It's just this feeling I get,' Mokuba frowned, 'like we're all connected somehow.'

'We are all connected Mokuba, that's the whole point. We could just as easily be channelling Tristan right now.'

'Please don't tell me you're tempted to do that,' Mokuba rolled his eyes. 'Catilin might be a complete and utter weirdo, but at least she's on our side right now.'

'Look, none of this matters anyway, we need to focus on how we're going to get everyone into the right position.'

'The right position for what exactly? I know this is about bringing Tristan and Seto back to their senses, but...'

'In my head I can see this... dome of light which can be formed if the Shield, Sword, Bow, Dagger and Lance are the correct distance away from each other.'

'Dome of light?' Mokuba felt his brain ticking over. 'You mean the Seal of the Stars?'

'I don't know what it's called,' she shook her head, 'I just know what it looks like in my head and that we need to form it.'

'Okay, so how do we contact the others?'

'We're connected to Catilin, aren't we?' Mai nudged his shoulder and indicated that he should start moving. 'She'll be able to sense from us what we're up to and communicate it with the others.'

'How can you be so sure she'll figure it out?'

'How can you doubt it?'

Mokuba met her gaze for a moment, then sighed heavily.

'You're right,' he relented, 'but if she knows what we're up to then so will Tristan.'

'That's a risk we'll have to take and why we have to act quickly, because if we wait too much longer the one chance we have to do this will pass.'

* * *

It wasn't so much a voice this time as it was an instinct. An instinct to fan out away from the Veronie to the side of Tristan and Kaiba. As Covo moved he noticed Ahna doing the same. Within seconds the two of them were stood opposite each other with Mai and Mokuba now positioned behind Tristan and Kaiba, and Catilin and the hybrid still in front of the Veronie.

Ahna nodded at him before flicking a glance up towards Mai and Mokuba, then down towards Catilin and the hybrid. The Shield Ahna was holding then began to glow. A string of light then shot out from it towards the Sword Mokuba was holding and the Bow Catilin was holding. Both of their weapons then began to glow and the Sword shot a stream of light into Covo's Lance, whereas the Bow sent one into the hybrid's Dagger. The final two weapons then began to glow before light from them completed the circuit.

Covo wasn't totally sure what had just happened, but he'd learnt not to question anything at this point. Besides this felt more productive than the back and forth shots between weapons and cycling discussions which had preceded it.

'And just what do you think you're doing?' Tristan cocked an eyebrow.

'We're creating the Seal of the Stars,' Mokuba twisted his grip on the Sword he was holding, clearly trying to appear a lot more confident than he probably was.

'Seal of the Stars?' Kaiba laughed. 'You really think that will work against us?'

Without waiting for an answer Kaiba shot a stream of ice out of the Staff he was holding. It crashed against the dome of light which now surrounded them, but was unable to penetrate it. There was something almost beautiful about the effect it gave, but Covo wasn't about to say that to the others. After all this was a serious situation and there was absolutely no time to be admiring the beauty of an attack.

'Oh little sister, how quickly we forget,' Veronie smirked. 'When the Earthen Shield forms a seal of any kind with any four of the other weapons no magic can penetrate it. Not even ours.'

'It means you can't escape,' Mokuba's voice trembled slightly. 'Not until we let you.'

'You don't want to be doing this,' Kaiba turned his attention towards his brother. 'I can hear it in your voice. This isn't your plan Mokuba; you don't want to hurt me.'

'I... I have no problem hurting you if it'll get my brother back.'

'The Seal of the Stars isn't enough to get your brother back,' Kaiba shook his head. 'Don't you get it; he's a part of me now. He wanted this.'

'I don't believe you,' Mokuba gritted his teeth. 'My brother wouldn't just give his life away like this, not for anyone.'

'I'm not just anyone Mokuba and you have no idea what really goes on inside your brother's head.'

'I know him well enough to know this isn't something he'd want for himself.'

'You don't sound so sure,' Kaiba smirked, 'and I wouldn't be either knowing what your brother has been keeping from you the last few months.'

'Shut up,' the light from Mokuba's weapon began to waver, 'you have no right to say anything about my brother.'

'Actually I think I have every right, after all I am him.'

'Shut up!'

'Calm down Mokuba,' Veronie's multi-tonal voice cut through the air, 'the Pure's trying to upset you in order to break the shield, but it won't work.'

'Are you sure about that?' Kaiba turned back towards him. 'He seems pretty shaken to me.'

'Why must you rely so heavily on manipulation? You disappoint me sometimes Pure, you really do,' Veronie shook his head.

'Disappoint you? I disappoint you?' Kaiba took several steps towards him. 'I hate you. Sometimes I really hate you. You always have to be the best, don't you? You always have to be the one to look down on everybody else, thinking you know better. _Oh poor little Pure, she's too emotional, too easily hurt, she can't do anything right._ And it's not just me either, you treat the Face of Friendship exactly the same. You don't trust us to think for ourselves. You don't trust us to do anything unless you think it's the right thing to do. Well we can think for ourselves, have opinions of our own, act without you...'

'And cause chaos in the process,' Veronie cut him off. 'Look at you. Look around you. How can you tell me this is situation... this behaviour is justified?'

'You were always so selfish; you could never see anything you didn't want to see. That's why you can't see what's really going on here; the importance of these events. That's why you don't get it, why you...'

'Shut up,' Yugi's voice was so loud and sudden it caused Covo's heart to judder in his chest. 'Will you two please shut the hell up? Do you two have any idea how draining and annoying it is to listen to the two of you bickering like this? But it's not just that, I can sense what you're feeling too. Did you realise you're still trying to use me like some kind of rope here? What are you so used to manipulating my emotions you _both_ do it without thinking? How is that fair? Tell me how that's even remotely fair. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of putting up with this. It's time the three of us settle things once and for all.'

'Three of us...?' Kaiba stared at Yugi.

'Settled things...?' The look on Veronie's face matched Kaiba's.

'That's right,' Yugi tightened his grip on the Whip, 'the three of us should settle things right here, right now.'

'Huh,' the sound came out of Mai, Mokuba, Tristan and Catilin at pretty much the same time.

For half a second Covo felt a shiver run up and down his spine. The way the four of them had been so in sync was creepy, especially when you took into consideration the fact they weren't currently all on the same side. What followed were a few long, tense minutes of silence as Kaiba and Veronie seriously weighed up Yugi's suggestion.

'You're serious, aren't you?' Veronie's gaze narrowed for a moment.

'I've never been more serious in my life,' Yugi gave a strange little laugh. 'I may not agree with the Pure about her being in charge, but she does have a point about the way you both use and manipulate me all the time. I have a mind of my own, thoughts of my own, feelings of my own; I'm not just some mirror the two of you can look into in order to feel good about yourselves. Not anymore. Maybe I'm just being influenced by my host here, or maybe on some level your emotional overload has made me just as determined to have this out as the two of you, but honestly I don't really care.'

'Okay,' Kaiba's voice was calm and level.

'You can't be serious,' Veronie half laughed.

'Why not, she has a point, we do use her and it's not fair. I think it's about damn time she stood up for herself. So,' he refocused his gaze on Yugi, 'what are your terms?'

'If I win no more deliberately trying to influence me; I want both of you to respect the fact that I'm an individual too so you should ask for my opinion and feelings on things. I want to be treated as your equal, because, damnit, I am your equal.'

'Sounds fair to me,' Kaiba nodded, 'well I think its obvious what I want if I win.'

'And if you lose things will stay as they're meant to be,' Veronie glared at him.

'So you're onboard with this little... battle of ours then?'

'Since both of my sisters are determined to do this I don't see what choice I have.' He half turned away. 'Two weapons apiece?'

'Agreed.'

'Then I guess its settled then,' a strange smile pulled at Yugi's lips, 'may the best sister win.'


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

Duke felt numb. He couldn't have been more than halfway through the total amount of back story the infant he was holding was trying to show him, but it was more than enough for him to understand exactly how things had ended up the way they had. He was now left in this drifting void, trying to focus on the screen when his head and heart really weren't in it. He didn't want to see anymore, hell he didn't need to see anymore.

The child in his arms must have sensed this and the next thing Duke knew he was sat in a large hall like chamber. For a few moments he just sat there blinking like someone just waking up in the morning. Then his mind started to focus on his surroundings and for a second he thought he was in the Southern Palace's great hall, but the slow awareness he had of book on the chair next to him changed his opinion.

'The Fabled Truths,' he studied the cover of the book for a few moments, before it rapidly and unexpectedly opened itself. 'You really need to stop doing things like that,' Duke stared down at the child as his heart rate returned to normal. 'I know you can't exactly tell me things like a normal child, but still...'

He sighed and started reading the page in front of him. For a few moments he was confused, the passage he was reading wasn't exactly written in a conventional way, but after a few minutes of rereading lines he eventually figured out what it was trying to say. Almost as soon as he had the pages flicked over to another passage, this one had a lot of the same themes as the previous although the information was a lot clearer to get at. One more flicking of the page and one more passage read and Duke felt as though he was starting to understand the plan the baby was trying to show him.

'Do you really think this will work?'

The baby gurgled and fidgeted in reply.

'Okay, well I guess I have to put my faith in you, right?'

'You know they say talking to yourself is the first sign of madness,' an unfamiliar voice made Duke start.

'Who... who are you?' Duke shot a look towards the young woman crossing the chamber towards him.

'I am Cayoon Mouse, queen of the Odraian people, who the hell are you?'

'I... I'm Duke Devlin,' he tried to sound more confident than he felt.

'Last I checked Devlin wasn't a Silkoneon name,' her gaze narrowed.

'I'm not Silkoneon,' he swallowed hard, 'I'm a friend of Jo... Veronie.'

'You're a Standing?' Cayoon frowned.

'Err... yeah, I guess.'

'Odd, I could have sworn you were Silkoneon,' she hesitated for a moment, before shaking her head. 'But I guess that doesn't matter, where's Catilin?'

'She's not here right now.'

'I can see that,' she rolled her eyes, 'but where is she?'

'Err... that's kind of complicated.'

'Complicated?'

'Yeah, you know, not straight forward, I really don't think I can go much into it with you.'

'Right,' Cayoon cocked an eyebrow at him. 'And what about you being here, can you explain that one to me?'

'I... err... well you see Cat... Catilin wanted me to take a look at the Fabled Truths,' the lie was out of Duke's mouth before he could stop it. 'She said it would give me something to do whilst she was gone and you know what she gets like.'

'I thought you said you were a friend of Veronie's,' Cayoon's frown return.

'And that's exactly how I met Catilin,' he tried to remain calm. 'I know she's a little on the weird side, but she's a really nice girl so I don't mind indulging her crazy whims.'

'Oh you don't, do you?' Cayoon sounded suspicious. 'And what exactly is Catilin to you?'

'Err...'

'And who's kid is that for that matter,' Cayoon took several steps towards him.

'This kid?' Duke pulled the baby closer to himself.

'Yeah, that kid. I mean, I don't see any others around, do you?'

'Well... err... you see... this kid is... err...' Duke gave a nervous cough to clear his throat. 'This kid is mine.'

'But you're not Silkoneon,' Cayoon narrowed her gaze on him again, 'and that child definitely is.'

'How can you be so sure? You thought I was and I'm not.'

'True, but one of you definitely is and if it's not you then it has to be the child.'

'You're right,' he stared down at the infant in his arms, 'the child is Silkoneon or at least half Silkoneon, on his mother's side, obviously.'

'So your mate must be amongst those partitioning for the law against marrying Standings to change then.'

'Yes,' Duke tried to sound like he knew what she was talking about.

'So who is she?'

'Who's who?'

'Your mate. Who is _your_ mate and the mother of _your_ child?'

'Oh, who is _she_?'

'Yes, who is she?' Cayoon folded her arms. 'She does have a name right.'

'Right, of course she does,' Duke's mouth felt dry. 'She... she um... well you see about that... she... her name is...'

'Are you going to tell me or are you just going to sit there stammering. Come on, it's not that hard, is it?'

'Of course not.'

'Then what is it? What is her name?'

'Catilin,' the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, 'her name is Catilin.'

* * *

It all happened so quickly Téa felt as though her head were spinning. First Yugi, Joey and Kaiba had assembled their weapons; through this Kaiba had acquired the Blade and kept the Staff he already had possession of, Yugi joined the Whip with the Shield and Joey grabbed the Lance and the Dagger. The white walled room around them then dissolved into a large cavernous chamber, half of which hung over a huge pit like drop. The drop itself was broken by several small pillar-like platforms which were space erratically apart and were of uneven heights. The way it all looked made it impossible for Téa to decide whether or not she thought the formation of the cave had been through natural means. Either way she knew she didn't like the way it looked.

She felt her heart lurch heavily in her chest as Joey, Kaiba and Yugi jumped their way across the platforms in order to take up their starting positions. Once there a deep and deathly silence formed as the three of them eyed each other up, each giving a small, emphatic nod as though to acknowledge this was really happening. Then, with almost no warning, Yugi snapped the Whip he was holding in Kaiba's direction sending a torrent of water flying through the air. In almost a singular motion he flicked the whip back towards Joey sending another torrent of water his way. Kaiba and Joey reacted almost simultaneously, with Kaiba using the Staff to turn the water into ice and Joey using the Lance to create some kind of invisible barrier which separated the torrent of water causing it to stream around him.

Kaiba balanced the Blade on the Staff, sliding it slightly to the left and creating a tornado of air which shattered the falling ice and sent it flying back towards Yugi. At the same time Joey swept the Dagger across the Lance causing them both to emit a purple glow, he then whipped the two weapons apart causing a wave of purple energy to fly out towards Kaiba and Yugi. Yugi raised the Shield causing a barrier of earth to rise up out of the pit and protect him from both of the attacks. Kaiba wasn't so lucky, taking the hit full on and flying backwards off of the platform he was standing on. He reacted quickly though, using the Staff to create a temporary platform of ice which he used as a springboard back to his starting place.

It was at this point auras of pure light began swirling around the three of them, becoming more and more solid until the details of the three boys who'd been stood before them disappeared. There was no doubt in Téa's mind that they were the Mistresses now and somehow that just made the whole situation worse.

'The Pure's vulnerable out there,' Catilin took several steps towards the edge of the wide ledge they were all stood on. 'She can stop attacks but she can't block them, I don't see how she can win.'

'Then you really don't know her very well,' Tristan took up a position beside her. 'And you call yourself a Win part, any Win part worth anything knows just how resourceful the Pure is.'

'But her weapons...'

'Are well suited to her personality Mind,' Tristan glared, 'and that's why she will win.'

'I don't think so,' Mai shook her head, 'this match has to go to the First.'

'As much as I don't want my brother to lose, I have to agree with Mai,' Mokuba lowered his head slightly, 'the First has the Spirit Lance.'

'And the Face of Friendship has the Earthen Shield,' Catilin placed her hands behind her back and bounded on her heels. 'It's a much better defence. She could win this.'

'You have got to be kidding me,' Tristan rolled his eyes, 'you can't win a battle on defence alone and in terms of attacking weaponry the Water Whip really isn't all that great. The Arial Blade on the other hand...'

'Doesn't combine as well with the Staff as the Lance does with the Dagger,' Mokuba cut him off. 'The First has this one.'

'You don't know that. This fight isn't over till the last move has been made and...'

'Stop it,' Téa cut him off, crushing her hands against her ears as she did. 'Stop talking like this. How... how can you all be so calm when... when our friends are fighting each other?'

'It's because we're Win, Téa,' Catilin pulled Téa's hands down from her ears, 'this is what we have to do.'


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

'Catilin,' Cayoon deadpanned the word.

'Yes,' the sound was as slow and awkward as the nod which accompanied it.

'Catilin... Ashmar?'

'Yes,' Duke wished he could sound more confident and self-assured, but the lie had been impulsive and unexpected.

'You're telling me that child you're holding right now is yours and Catilin Ashmar's?' Cayoon cocked an eyebrow.

'Yes.'

'But you just told me you met Catilin through Veronie. Veronie had only just met her before the awakening.'

'And I met her at the same time,' Duke swallowed hard, 'it all happened very quickly.'

'Yeah, just a little bit,' Cayoon folded her arms, 'especially considering the _problems_ she has.'

'I... I didn't take advantage of her if that's what you're implying,' he did his best to keep his voice level and calm. 'We... we both wanted it and the... the moment just felt right. Maybe it was just the situation we were in at the time making emotions run high or... whatever, but I've stuck by her since then.'

Duke was starting to wish the lie would stop coming out of him. A lot of the things he was saying would be hard to backtrack from later and they were definitely going to have repercussions. Still there was little else Duke could do but keep calm and hope Cayoon brought the lie, after all the truth was complicated and might put the child in some kind of unknown and unintentional danger.

'Well... I guess this does explain her sickness at the start of her reign,' Cayoon pressed her lips together. 'So... are you serious about her then?'

'Uh... I have a child with her... don't I?'

'That doesn't mean anything in _your_ society.'

'Y-yes, I am serious about her.' Duke forced a smile onto his face.

'Are you in love with her?'

'Yes,' Duke had responded to the question automatically, which made him a little uncomfortable but was probably for the best; that was the one question you couldn't hesitate over if you were to be believed.

There were a few long moments of silence as Cayoon studied him closely. Duke found himself rolling his shoulders back and sitting as tall as he could in the chair he was on. For a split second a strange feeling of déjà vu made its way through him. A deep frown pulled across his face as he glanced around the room and imagined it covered with flag like decorations of green and orange. The thought was so strange he instantly shook it from his head and refocused his gaze on Cayoon.

'I guess it really is time we push forward this whole marrying Standings situation then,' Cayoon half turned away from him. 'Love shouldn't be restricted by breed.'

'Are you speaking from experience there?' Duke kept his voice level.

'Perhaps,' her eyes slid back towards him, 'although there's something about you... Something... interesting to say the least. I can see the appeal, but I'm not sure I share it.'

'Thanks,' Duke cocked an eyebrow not totally sure how to take her words.

Cayoon started walking away, then stopped. There were a few long moments of silence, during which she kept her back to him.

'Duke, why do the wolves howl?'

'Because the moon is their master,' the words were out of Duke's mouth before he could stop them and he honestly had no idea why he'd said them.

'I thought so,' Cayoon lowered her head a little as she made her way out of the room again.

'What was that?' Duke stared down at the child the second they were on their own again.

The baby made a slight gurgling noise, but nothing tangible enough for Duke to interpret. Instead he turned his gaze back towards the Fabled Truths.

'I think I'm starting to understand your plan a little, but are you sure it will work?'

The child gurgled again and Duke took that to mean yes.

'Okay, so is there anything else you need me to know before we try this out?'

In response the book slammed shut.

'Alright then, I guess it's time for you to take me to your real parents,' Duke got to his feet, 'and I hope you're ready for this kid, because I'm not.'

* * *

Téa found herself staring at Catilin, before shifting her gaze round at Tristan, Mai and Mokuba. They all shared the same eerily serious expression. An expression which read with the exact same no nonsense message.

'You're all Win?' Téa cocked an eyebrow. 'All of you... at the same time... how...?'

'The storm might be dying away now, but the chaos its left has continued to heighten our senses,' Mai tilted her head to one side. 'It'll fade sooner or later, but right now we are all as much Win as each other.'

'Not quite,' Mokuba shook his head. 'Where as it is true we are all Win, we are not all the same part of Win, therefore we're not all at the same level of being Win.'

'But we are all Win at the fullest extent we can individually be,' Mai met his gaze, 'so my initial statement, though inaccurate, is correct.'

'Okay...' Téa tried to pretend she understood what they were on about, 'but sooner or later you'll all come back down from this and start acting like yourselves again, right?'

'If it is our will to do so, yes,' Tristan folded his arms, 'but we could choose to stay the way we are right now.'

'You're wrong,' Catilin shook her head, 'it will not be the four of us who decides our fate.'

'I don't see who else can decide it for us.'

'Then you're only seeing the palette of paints laid out in front of you and not the colours those paints could create.'

'Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?'

Before she could answer his question, Duke appeared out of nowhere. In his arms he was still cradling the infant he'd been left in charge of and a somewhat uncertain expression filled his face.

'What the hell are you doing here?' The hybrid took several steps towards him. 'I thought we agreed it would be safest for you to stay away.'

'Serious change of plans,' Duke glanced down at the baby for a moment. 'So what did I miss?'

'Oh nothing much, you know,' Téa rolled her eyes, 'just the Mistresses decided to battle it out to see who's will is the strongest.'

'Really?'

'That's a drastic oversimplification of the situation,' the hybrid shot her a look, 'but accurate none the less,' he licked his lips.

'So how long have they been at it for?' Duke focused his attention on the hybrid.

'A while now.'

'And nobodies lost yet, right?'

'See for yourself,' the hybrid pointed past him, 'they're all still standing.'

'Well that's something, right?' Duke stared down at the baby for a moment. 'Okay kid, it's time to put your plan into action.'

For a split second Téa couldn't help but wonder whether or not Duke had completely lost his mind. Then the baby made a gurgling noise and all eight of the Elemental Weapons suddenly appeared at Duke's feet.

'Nice one kid,' Duke grinned down at the baby as the three Mistresses turned their attention towards him.

'How the hell were you able to do that?' The Pure jumped several platforms towards him.

'Because junior here is a frigging genius.'

'Junior?' The First frowned. 'I don't understand, whose child is that?'

'Yours,' Duke flicked his gaze towards her.

'Mine...?' The aura of white light around her snapped away, revealing her host once more.

'That child does _not_ belong with you,' Tristan advanced on him, 'hand it over, _now_.'

'No,' Duke shook his head as he disappeared from the spot he'd been standing in and reappeared a couple of meters behind Tristan.

'Duke I'm serious,' Tristan grabbed the Sword from the ground and aimed it towards him, 'give me the child or so help me I will kill you for it.'

'A little help here,' Duke flicked his gaze down towards the infant.

Almost as soon as he had the Sword disappeared from Tristan's hand and reappeared hovering in the air in front of Duke and the baby. Téa found herself letting out the deep breath she'd been holding; she wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she did know the child Duke was holding really was one of a kind.

'We're not here to fight them little one,' Duke cocked an eyebrow. 'I know you're just trying to defend yourself, but we have a plan, remember?'

The baby gurgled as though he understood what Duke had said perfectly and the Sword in front of them dropped lifelessly to the ground.

'You're such a smart kid; I really don't know where you're getting it from.'

'How are you controlling the child?' Tristan glared at him.

'Who says I'm controlling the child?' Duke smirked at him. 'The little angel might only be a few hours old, but he's already smarter than all you knuckleheads combined.'

'You would really insult us?' The Pure made it across to the ledge and took up a position beside Tristan.

'Only because I think you deserve it, yes,' Duke remained calm. 'But then again I know exactly how this dirty little collaboration between the two of you really started. Tristan was right to worry something might happen to him, because in the craziness of the storm the two of you selfishly took advantage of your hosts. And I... I mean we,' he glanced back down at the child, 'can prove it.'


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

Duke took a deep breath in and allowed the true meaning of his words to settle. He knew he would have to present his evidence eventually, he just hoped that part of his plan would be easier done than said, since it relied on the child doing what it was supposed to when it was supposed to. Not that Duke doubted the kid's ability to perform; it was the performing on demand part Duke was worried about. It didn't matter how newly born the infant was, it had a strong will and a mind of its own.

'You know nothing,' Tristan broke the silence.

'I know everything, your host made sure of that.'

'You're lying, my host only gave you a single clue and you've not had the time or the resources to figure out the rest from there.'

'You're wrong about that,' Duke smiled down at the baby in his arms, 'I've had everything I needed right here.'

'And what would that new born brat know about anything?' Tristan gritted his teeth.

'What's the matter Body,' Duke met his gaze, 'not scared, are we?'

'What do I have to be scared of exactly? You're bluffing. You know nothing and even if you've figured out some of the story, you have no proof.'

'You're wrong there on both points,' Duke took a few steps towards him, 'but before I get into any of that I think there are a few other things we all need to address first, like the issue of the four Wins...'

'As if we haven't already been over this already,' Tristan rolled his eyes.

'This is about Cappayanna's entries, isn't it?' Catilin laughed.

'Err... who?' Duke flicked his gaze down towards the child, who simply gurgled back at him.

'Cappayanna,' Catilin nodded, 'you read the Four Voices poem, didn't you?'

'No actually, I didn't. All the entries in the Fables I read were to do with our plan.'

'Then how do you know anything about the four Wins?'

'I didn't say I was necessarily offering up any new information,' Duke gave a nervous laugh. 'Well... maybe, it depends on how much the Pure and Body shared with you guys, because everything I know I learnt from Tristan and Kaiba.'

'Impossible,' the white aura around the Pure broke to reveal her host.

'More than possible, the two of them spent a lot of time talking the last few months,' Duke found himself too uncomfortable to meet his gaze. 'So I know how frequently the ideas about the Win parts and how to deal with them changed and altered, especially after you both started talking about _the kid_. What we have now,' his eyes surveyed the four Win hosts, 'is how things were always meant to be, at least according to the last discussion Kaiba and Tristan were having... the last discussion I saw them having that is. Although I know neither of you necessarily thought it was a good idea for things to be this way now.'

'What exactly is rehashing old ground supposed to accomplish here?' Tristan cocked an eyebrow.

'Because just as you weren't always planning for the Win parts to awaken now, you also weren't always hoping the child would be born now.'

'_The kid_ was responsible for them thinking they should stop the child being born now, right?' Mai's voice was calm and level. 'Mov told me someone was trying to stop the birth...'

'But you can't stop a birth, it happens when it happens for a reason,' Duke forced himself to meet Kaiba's gaze. 'That's what you said the first time Tristan started talking about _the kid's_ plan to stop the birth. And I mean you and not Kaiba, you both acknowledged it at the time.'

'How...?' Kaiba took a few steps back.

'I told you, I know everything _they_ talked about,' he found himself gritting his teeth and looking away.

'But how?'

'I told you, I had everything I needed to find everything I needed, because I had this little one with me,' he allowed his gaze to drop to the child for a moment. 'I know how powerful this child is and I know the two of you want more than to just put the Pure in control of the heavens, you want to form a new triad with this child.'

'They what?' The white aura snapped away from the Face of Friendship revealing a horrified looking Yugi.

'That's what all the misdirection was really about,' Duke kept his voice firm and level, 'the child... this child and the fact that it has the power to change everything.'

'How...?' Joey took a step towards him.

'From what I could understand of Tristan and Kaiba's conversations, this child is more than just powerful and the weird chaotic vibe that seems to be in the air is a direct result of this child's birth. It's birth has thrown everything out of balance and by keeping everyone distracted for long enough the Pure and Body were hoping to use this to their own advantage and change things under everyone's noses.'

'I should know better than to fall for your manipulative little tricks by now,' Joey glared at Kaiba, 'even this fight here was little more than a distraction, right?'

'More than likely,' Duke nodded, 'although without the child they were powerless to make any of the changes. In fact when I heard that part of Tristan and Kaiba's conversations I did worry that I might inadvertently be changing the fabric of the multiverse, but you need to be a balance to control a balance so only a Win part or the Pure could affect how the child changes things.'

'Because Win was created with every one of the Mistresses' powers,' Catilin lowered her head slightly, 'including balance manipulation. Win wasn't a balance, but that didn't mean he couldn't control it. But...' she hesitated, 'Win's powers weren't divided equally, some of us might not have that power.'

'And once again you've hit the nail on the head of yet another of Tristan and Kaiba's discussions,' Duke sucked a deep breath in, 'it was why they didn't know how much of a threat the other Win parts were to their plan and why how to deal with them was debated so much. Of course their plans were practically changing every other week and even after this mysterious _kid_ of theirs showed up they continued to debate different strategies and... to be honest with you, if I didn't know they... or rather the Pure and Body, were already utilising one of their many plans I would have written off their conversations as idly hypothetical chitchat. And considering where they were having their little conversations it would have made a lot of sense.'

'Why?' Joey's glazed eyes narrowed on him. 'Where were they having these... alleged conversations?'

'You don't believe me?' Duke returned Joey's stare. 'You think I'm making this all up or something?'

'I'm not sure,' the level of honesty in his multi-tonal voice was strangely refreshing, 'you seem to know an awful lot and haven't really explained how you've come by this knowledge.'

'I know and I will get to that, I just thought it was important for you all to know what I've learnt before you learn how I came by it and...' Duke hesitated for a moment. 'Well, in order to do this I need to drop a serious bombshell on you all. Well... everyone except SK,' he glanced towards the hybrid.

'What... what kind of bombshell?' Téa edged towards him.

'One which is going to take some of you more by surprise than others,' Duke let out the breath he was holding. 'I mean, even when I'd braced myself for the possibility of something like this I still felt the truth slap me hard in the face.'

'So are you going to drop this bomb or not,' Tristan glared at him.

'I learnt everything I know about most of Tristan and Kaiba's actions for the last few months through CCTV footage,' Duke tried to ignore the quivering feeling moving through his body, 'footage taken at the Haven Knight's Mental Institute.'


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

The second Duke had finished speaking the eight Elemental Weapons appeared in a floating ring around him. They moved in a slow rotation and after a few moments began to glow on and off in a strange combination.

'Impossible,' Joey took half a step back, 'only we know how to unlock the power hidden within the weapons.'

'But the Ashmars have always been a part of Win,' Catilin tilted her head to one side, 'Win knew how to do it too and we wrote it in the Fables.'

'It's not going to be easy bringing them back,' Duke lowered his head slightly as the chamber around them twisted and churned like food dye in a clear liquid, 'but it's not impossible either.'

'Bringing them back?' Mokuba echoed his words as the swirling stopped to reveal a change in location.

Téa's eyes scanned around the room they were now in. It was a spacious hospital room with only one bed. It was also well lit and almost chillingly airy, like it was too happy and safe somehow. As her eyes continued to examine the room she spotted a Kaiba clone leant against the far wall, for a second she had to glance back towards the Kaiba currently being controlled by the Pure to make sure it wasn't him. Once she was satisfied there were indeed two of them a strange realisation pulled through her; they were ghosts in some kind of memory.

Taking a deep breath in, Téa finally allowed her attention to go towards the person in the bed. When she'd first found herself in this room she'd made a mental note of the straps around this person's arms and ankles, but found herself unable to confirm their identity for sheer fear of what it might mean. Now, however, she was left with little other choice than to acknowledge the one fact she couldn't run away from. The occupant of the bed was a Tristan clone.

The Tristan clone, who had been sleeping, slowly began to rouse. He fidgeted and made uncertain grunting noises when his arms refused to pull away from the bed rails. Finally his eyes open so he could examine his predicament.

'You've got to be kidding me.'

'Are you really that surprised?' The Kaiba clone's voice was calm and level.

'Does this have something to do with you?' The Tristan clone glared at him.

'You're the one who keeps trying to kill yourself,' the Kaiba clone lowered his head and folded his arms.

'Yeah, you know I'd stop trying if you'd actually let me die.'

The Kaiba clone made no attempt at a reply and for a few minutes silence descended around them.

'It costs a lot of money to keep you here,' the Kaiba clone broke the silence with a calm and almost flat voice, 'so if you know what's good for you you'll actually take advantage of this place and get the help you need.'

'Who says I need any help?' The Tristan clone struggled against his restraints for a moment. 'You have no idea what I'm going through... what I've been going through... I can't take it anymore.'

'We both know death won't make it stop,' the Kaiba clone flicked his gaze up towards him.

'Maybe not, but right now I could do with a few of those rules which keep the living and the dead very much separate.'

'Well tough,' the Kaiba clone turned away from him, 'if you were meant to die now you would be dead already. But, if I'm being honest with you, I think it's even simpler than that; I don't think you really want to die and what's more, you don't think so either.'

'You have no idea what I think,' the Tristan clone's voice was more than a little shrill.

'Don't I?' The Kaiba clone made his way towards the door. 'I'll be back in a few days to check on your progress, don't make me regret helping you.'

'Regret it all you want, I told you before I don't want your help.'

'Then stay out of my head,' the Kaiba clone glared back at him as he opened the door, 'and you won't have to get it.'

* * *

Covo let out a sharp breath as the scene they'd been watching melted around them and they found themselves back in the cavernous chamber. Everybody's eyes appeared to focus in on Kaiba and Tristan.

'So what,' Kaiba shrugged, his white glazed eyes focused on Duke, 'you've proven our hosts have had contact in the last three months; that doesn't mean all this wasn't as much their idea as it was ours.'

'And I'm not saying they had nothing to do with this whole mess we're in now. I'm saying the pair of you took advantage of your hosts and last I checked that was a different issue entirely.'

'Then what was the point of showing everybody that little scene?'

'Same reason I'm going to show everybody the next one,' Duke's jaw line was firm, 'to establish how and why it became possible for you to not only start manipulating your hosts' actions but to slowly start taking control of them without their consent.'

'From the way you're talking you're making it sound like they had nothing to do with this situation at all. You just said...'

'This situation isn't that clean cut Pure and you know it,' Duke cut him off. 'Remember I've seen _everything_ or at least a whole lot more than I'm going to show everybody else, but for them to understand the why they have to understand the how.'

The world around them shimmered back into the hospital room. The past Tristan's wrists were still strapped to the bed, although his legs were now free, he was also sat up with a look of rage burning on his face and he wasn't the only one wearing it. Past Kaiba was half leant over him with the same heated look of anger on his face and from the sheer volume of the conversation they were having it didn't take a genius to work out they were in the middle of an argument.

'Fine, be that way, see if I care,' past Kaiba's hands were gripped so tight against the railings his knuckles were turning white.

'But that's the thing, you don't care.'

Past Tristan's reply was met by a very swift and volatile respond from past Kaiba who slammed the fist of his right hand hard into the wall behind Tristan's head. The action was enough to bring about a stunned silence and Covo found himself holding his breath to see what would happen next.

'You don't care,' past Tristan repeated his statement, his voice mute and deadpan, 'you don't care so why should I?'

Past Kaiba was silent, his fist still pressed against the wall and his head lowered far enough for his hair to hide his expression.

'You don't care so why are you trying so damn hard to keep me alive when I don't want to be alive anymore?' Past Tristan tried again.

'You're lying,' past Kaiba's voice was little more than a whisper, 'if you wanted to die then you wouldn't keep bringing me here.'

'I hate to point out the obvious here Kaiba, but I'm not the one bringing you here. You're choosing to come here, that has nothing to do with me.'

'You're wrong,' he shook his head, 'do you think I want to be here? I have better things I could be doing with my time, but you keep bringing me back.'

'You're talking crazy and I'm the one locked up in a mental institution?' Past Tristan rolled his eyes.

'If you don't want me here then make it stop,' past Kaiba lifted his head so his eyes met with past Tristan's; a look somewhere between anger and fear was spread across his face. 'If you make it stop then I'll leave you alone and you can do whatever the hell you want for all I care. Just make it stop; that's all you have to do.'

'Make what stop?' Past Tristan just looked confused.

'It's the reason I know you don't really want this,' past Kaiba pulled away from him, 'and why I know you'll keep pulling me back here until you stop deluding yourself. Don't you get it? It doesn't matter whether or not I want to care; you've made sure I have to. The fact you don't even know you're doing it just proves I'm right. You're the one who wants me here; because you know I'm the only one with the guts it takes to treat you the way you need to be treated. Those losers you hang around with you just irritate you with their attempts _bring back the old you_,' he whined out the last words. 'I, on the other hand, don't give a damn about the person you were, so I'm not going to try and make you into something you can't be anymore. And I understand what you're going through, because to survive in this world people need to be able to change when they _need_ to change and they need those around them to accept those changes regardless as to whether or not they think they're for the better. I don't give a damn about the person you were and I probably won't give a damn about the person you're becoming either, but I accept you need to change and that's why you keep me coming back.'

'But I don't...' past Tristan shook his head.

'You keep me coming back,' past Kaiba met his gaze, 'and somewhere inside that head of yours you know it. So stop deluding yourself about wanting to die and actually get to the real issues here.'

'And just what would those be?'

'Isn't that for you and your doctors to work out?' Past Kaiba made his way towards the door. 'I'm giving you what you need to find out who it is you are now Tristan, so stop trying to be deliberately difficult or I'll find some doctor I can pay off to lobotomise you or something.'

'Yeah, because that will _really_ help me accept myself,' past Tristan gave a little half laugh and smirked slightly.

'Electroshock therapy it is then,' past Kaiba shot a serious look in past Tristan's direction, before allowing a smirk of his own to appear. 'I'll be back in a few days, you'd better have shown some real improvement by then or...'

'Medieval style psychiatric torture?'

'Exactly.'


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

Duke half held his breath as the scene they were watching melted away and returned them to the cavernous chamber. His eyes then scanned over Tristan and Kaiba for signs that what he was doing was actually starting to work. Tristan's white glazed eyes remained steady, his head held high and an unmoved level of confidence exhumed out of him. It was clear the Win part in control of his friend didn't see any reason to be remotely emotionally affected by what they were seeing. It was deeply disappointed, but not totally surprising; after all, if Duke had learnt anything from the footage he'd seen, it was just how much Tristan wanted to get away from himself. It was going to take a lot to crack him.

Kaiba, on the other hand, had the palms of his hands pressed against his forehead whilst his fingers gripped tightly into his hair. His head was lowered making it almost impossible to see his expression, but something in Duke's gut told him the plan was working.

'And what exactly were you trying to prove with that little scene,' Tristan folded his arms.

'I told you,' Duke kept his voice as calm and level as possible, 'I'm setting the scene so that everyone can understand how and why you were able to take advantage of your hosts.'

'Is that really what you're doing? Or are you just stalling for time because you can't prove what you say you can prove.'

'Oh, I can prove it,' he met Tristan's gaze. 'I can prove it because we both know it is the truth. Tristan wouldn't have trusted me with the clues needed to get him back else.'

'Are you sure that's what he wanted? How do you know he didn't just give you that document in order to explain why this had to happen?'

'Because the Tristan I know wouldn't think like that.'

'Haven't you been paying attention to your own _evidence_?' Tristan shook his head. 'The Tristan you knew is long gone. The Tristan I control...'

'The Tristan you control?' Duke cut him off. 'See, even you're admitting you're doing wrong by him right now. Okay, so maybe the Tristan I know and the Tristan he is now are two completely different people, but I honestly believe he doesn't want to be controlled by you. In fact, here, I'll prove it.'

The area around them returned to the hospital room. Past Tristan was no longer strapped to the bed and was instead sat crossed legged near the end of it. Past Kaiba was stood leant against the wall opposite in much the same way he had been during the first scene Duke had shown the others.

'I'm surprised you never thought about it,' past Kaiba's gaze was focused on the floor.

'I'm surprise you have,' past Tristan cocked an eyebrow.

'Just because I've considered it, doesn't mean I want it,' he shook his head, 'but from the way the kid was talking it looks like something I'm going to have to watch out for.'

'So you at least don't want it to happen then.'

'It's my life and my body,' past Kaiba flicked his gaze towards past Tristan, 'why would I want anyone else taking control of it.'

'But you have considered it?'

'I've considered the possibility of her taking control; I never said I wanted it to happen.'

'So you think she'd take it by force?'

Past Kaiba shrugged and refocused his gaze on the ground.

'I don't think she's the type to force anything on me I truly didn't want, but... I have no doubt she would exploit anything she saw as a weakness to get her own way. In that way she's a lot like me.'

'Which begs the question, are there any weaknesses there for her to exploit?' Past Tristan narrowed his gaze for a moment.

'None that I'm willing to admit,' past Kaiba met his gaze.

There were a few long minutes of silence, during which past Tristan continued to study his companion. Then he gave a heavy sigh and turned his head away.

'As much as I don't exactly like my own life right now, I don't think I'd be happy giving it away to anyone else either. I don't want to die so I can become Win; I've never wanted that. I just... I just want to get away from these feelings.'

'Death won't let you do that.'

'I know,' past Tristan rolled his eyes, 'and nor will becoming Win.'

'Finally a break through,' past Kaiba smirked for a moment. 'So what do we do about what the kid told us?'

'I guess it depends on whether or not he can be trusted.'

'That's true,' past Kaiba tilted his head to one side, 'so what should we do?'

'Stay ourselves, I guess,' past Tristan gave a strange half laugh, 'whatever that means.'

'I mean besides the obvious,' he rolled his eyes. 'Do we trust his plan?'

'It seems a lot more solid than ours,' past Tristan shrugged, 'but I still don't like it as much as theirs, I mean... something tells me what he's asking us to do is impossible.'

'Stop a birth you mean?'

'Delay it. He doesn't want us to stop it, just delay it. Doesn't that feel a little... off?'

'Of course it does, births are supposed to happen when they're supposed to happen,' past Kaiba lowered his head slightly, 'but his plan does have its merits. I mean, it would take longer for anyone to figure out what was going on and...'

'And it would be us executing it without having to rely on them.'

'Exactly. It doesn't matter whether or not he can be trusted, what matters is whether or not we want to believe him.'

'So you believe he's right about them?'

'I think for all the Pure's claims about respecting me, this situation is a lot harder for her than she'd care to admit. Intentionally or not I think she would try and I'd rather not give her the opportunity.'

'Well it would definitely put us out of their reach for a while,' past Tristan mused. 'So we trust him then?'

'For now.'

* * *

'Stop, make it stop,' Kaiba fell to their knees with his hands gripping into the sides of his head as they arrived back in the cavernous chamber once again. 'Please, make it stop.'

'Kaiba?' Duke took several steps towards him.

Kaiba was silent, his breaths jagged and heavy. For a long time nobody moved or said anything. Then Kaiba slowly lifted his head revealing, not only that the white glaze had disappeared from his eyes, but that his left eye had returned to being blue. Even in Mokuba's Win like state he found himself breathing a sigh of relief; his brother had returned.

'Kaiba are you alright?' Duke, still cradling the child, knelt down in front of him. 'Do you know where you are?'

For a few long moments Kaiba just stared at him. His gaze then explored the inside of the chamber they were in, before meeting with Tristan's for a moment.

'I...' Kaiba's head trembled from side to side as he turned his attention back towards Duke.

'What is the last thing you remember?'

'I... I... uh...' the shaking in his head moved from a tremor to a more monotonous movement. 'The... the nightmare,' his teeth gritted together. 'I just wanted it to stop, but it kept going and going and going. I... I couldn't get away from it. That's all I remember,' he crammed his hands against the sides of his head again. 'I just wanted it to stop.'

'You can't be serious,' Tristan moved towards him, 'tell me you're not serious.'

'I...' Kaiba's gaze met with his again. 'I... don't remember anything. Just the nightmare.'

For half a second Tristan's expression was blank, then a cloud of anger settled over it.

'How dare you do this,' he stormed towards Duke, who got back to his feet and protectively cradled the child. 'The Pure and I were so close...'

'The Pure and you were being corrupted by the storm. Neither of you really wanted to take it this far. This was supposed to be about the child and not the two of you. That's what you kept telling Tristan and Kaiba at least and I believe you were telling the truth at the time. But as the storm started taking hold of both of you, you started taking advantage of your hosts. I think I've more than proven now they didn't want to give you control of their lives like this, but what I can't prove is how or when you started chipping away at their confidence and convincing them they couldn't do this without you.'

'Are you telling me you can't believe they just changed their minds?' Tristan glared at him.

'Tristan gave me that document for a reason,' Duke sucked a deep breath in, 'it was because he didn't trust you or himself. I honestly believe neither Tristan nor Kaiba had any intentions of letting the two of you take control.'

'But you can't prove it,' he shook his head. 'You can't prove they just changed their minds. You can't prove this wasn't meant to happen.'

'Look at Kaiba right now and honestly tell me he changed his mind about all this. It's time to give it up Win; it's time to let Tristan come back out.'

'No,' he shook his head, 'I won't.'

'Why not?'

'Because...'

Whatever it was Tristan was about to say was cut off by a single look from Kaiba. For the longest time the two of them just stared at each other, neither of them moving or saying a word. Instantly Mokuba felt something strange shift through his stomach. He didn't believe Kaiba was lying about not remembering what had happened, but maybe, just maybe, there was something else he wanted... or needed to protect.

'I'm not letting go of this body,' Tristan gritted his teeth and turned his attention back towards Duke.

'Don't you think you're being a little selfish there?' Duke cocked an eyebrow.

'I'm being selfish? Me? You've seen everything Tristan's been through the last few months and you think I'm being selfish? He's the one denying me at every single turn. Joey accepts the First, Yugi accepts the Face of Friendship, heck even Seto accepts the Pure, but Tristan... Tristan's done everything in his power to deny me from the second he became aware of my existence. And every time he has to acknowledge my existence it sends him into a tailspin. Well I'm telling you now I will _not_ be denied by him anymore. He's the one making it a choice between us and I'm choosing me.'


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

The dagger hit the wooden frame of the door just inches away from his head as he entered the room. Instantly his eyes turned towards her and an un-amused scowl pulled across his face. Her lips puckered into a challenging look of amusement as she reached a hand towards the dagger and used her telekinetic powers to retrieve it from the door frame.

'You can't be too careful,' she pressed the tip of the dagger against the forefinger of her left hand and twiddled the handle with her right, 'not with the armies of hell at our door.'

'Considering your aim you would pretty much be dead at this point,' he crossed the room towards her.

'Maybe,' she shrugged, 'or maybe I just changed the directory of my projectile once I realised it was you.'

'Whatever,' he reached the large stone table she was perched on and stared down at the moving images on the large sheet of glass at its centre.

'You know this is probably the messiest this situation has ever been,' she leaned towards him.

'Tell me about it,' he shook his head, 'they continue to act on instincts from previous attempts making it impossible to tell if their motives are rational or not.'

'It's the chaos of the storm,' she smirked slightly, 'every time they repeat the same events more of the chaos leaks into them. It's driven this situation into near insanity; pushing everyone and everything to their absolute limits. You can't go back there again,' she pointed towards the scene playing out in the glass. 'You should have listened to the rest of us from the beginning, you can't stop a birth.'

'I had to try,' he glared at her.

'I'm not saying you didn't,' she began twiddling the knife against her left forefinger again, 'I'm just saying what we've been saying for the longest time now. You need to give up on trying to change the birth and focus on the death.'

'I know,' he gritted his teeth.

'Progress, finally,' she stopped playing with the knife for a moment to slide an electronic notepad towards him. 'Just so you know there were changes.'

'There are always changes,' his eyes began scanning over the pad, 'it's what happens when you start messing with the past and...' he stopped as his face took on an expression somewhere between rage and disgust. 'We didn't gain any time? Not even a minute? Not even a second?' His eyes lifted to meet with hers but she quickly turned away.

'It gets worse,' she kept her gaze averted from him, 'the devil with no heart has finally figured out what we're up to.'

'Well that's just fantastic, isn't it?' His nose curled with disgust. 'Why those two haven't found a way of permanently dealing with him yet I'll never know.'

'They are trying, but it's not easy. I mean, killing the living is easy, killing the dead is a little more complicated, but killing something which is both and neither at the same time... We both know the spell protecting that complete and utter freak is a powerful one and finding a way around its proving challenging even for my insight.'

'It's _their_ job to work on it, not yours.'

'I know, but I get bored sitting in this room watching the same mistakes play over and over again. Give me a break, won't you?'

'Whatever,' he scraped his fingers back through his hair before resting both of his hands against the table, 'we're running out of time.'

'I know.'

There were a few long minutes of silence, then her hand appeared on top of his, gently turning it over and placing something soft into his palm. She then closed his fingers round it before pulling herself away again. He frowned and opened out his fingers to reveal a lock of her hair bound with a chaos blue and gold ribbon.

'What...?'

'It's your birthday, isn't it?' Her voice was so soft it was almost as though she hadn't spoken.

'I...' his eyes flickered about in confusion for a moment, before the realisation hit him, 'I've spent so long trying to fix things back there I guess I'd forgotten time had been moving along here too.' He lifted the lock of hair to his face for a moment, in order to breath in the sweet scent.

Another silence elapsed around them, but this was different from before, this was filled with unspoken questions and a certain kind of knowing.

'We are doing the right thing here, aren't we?' Her voice trembled around the edges, revealing more than just her doubts.

In that one moment she looked more perfect and innocent than she ever had before. Without hesitation he reached out and kissed her, not because she needed it but because _he_ wanted it. It was a deep and passionate kiss filled with everything unspoken about their relationship. As the kiss came to an end she moved one of his hands from her face and placed it over her stomach. Almost automatically he felt himself pressing his hand into her soft, warm skin.

'If nothing else in the world mattered to me,' he leant his forehead against hers, 'if you were the only thing I needed, then I would just sit back and watch everything crumble. I wouldn't care, because what I would be left with would be the only thing which counted. Right and wrong wouldn't matter then, because we would be free to make everything the way we wanted it. But you are not the only thing I care about.'

'I know,' she pressed her hand down on top of his, 'and believe me I care about them too and if it wasn't for... I wouldn't doubt our decision at all,' she met his gaze. 'But this has really brought it home to me; we are choosing their future over ours.'

'It's how it's meant to be,' he lowered his head just enough so she couldn't see his expression. 'If we weren't meant to change things we wouldn't be able to. We both know it was the multiverse and not us who opened these portals because...'

'We have the knowledge to know how to use them,' she sighed. 'But what if we're wrong? What if we've only been given this opportunity to show us there's nothing we can do to change our fate?'

'Then so be it, but I would rather have tried and failed then not tried at all and so would you.'

'I... I know,' her voice was mute, 'but I can't help thinking about how much we're giving up.'

'What we're giving up is nothing compared to what we'll gain and you know it.' He moved his hand back to her face and gently stroked some of the hair back behind her ear. 'We will gain a family, friends, a real future...'

'But we will lose each other,' she shook her head, 'because they won't accept this.'

'That's just how things are meant to be,' he placed a hand under her chin and allowed his lips to hover over hers. 'Besides, with plenty of other fish to choose from I'm sure in our better future you won't want me.'

'You don't get it, do you?' Her lips brushed against his. 'I was made to be with you and there's nothing in the whole multiverse which can change that.'

* * *

'Why are you being so stubborn about this,' Duke shook his head.

'Why can't you just accept this is the way things are?' Tristan's glazed eyes stared back at him. 'I know your whole plan so far has been about getting our hosts to take back control and with Seto you've succeeded, but I told you before, Tristan doesn't want to take back control. Tristan is perfectly happy with this arrangement.'

'And I told you I don't believe that.'

'And neither do I,' Joey took a step forward.

'Or us,' Catilin stepped forward as Mai and Mokuba nodded their agreement, 'so if you're not going to kindly step aside, I guess we have no choice but to force you.'

'You wouldn't dare,' Tristan glared at her.

'Oh we would,' she smirked, 'and we will.'


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

Tristan's eyes flicked around at the others as a tight circle was formed around him using the eight Elemental Weapons. An energy field flickered out of the weapons effectively caging Tristan in.

'So free will means nothing to you people?'

'You brought this on yourself Body,' Catilin met his gaze. 'You were given every opportunity to stand down on your own and you continually refused.'

'For good reason.'

'No,' she shook her head, 'you're just being selfish. This isn't how things are meant to be.'

'And you can be so sure of that, can you Mind?'

'We all can be,' Yugi took half a step forward, 'we're not supposed to take their lives from them like this.'

'No, _you're_ not supposed to take their lives from them like this,' a sour expression appeared on his face for a moment, 'I was born into this body so I have as much right to control it as _he_ does.'

'You sound like Re,' Catilin lowered her gaze slightly.

For a moment Tristan visibly hesitated before staring down at his own hands. When he lifted his gaze again his expression was grim, but solid.

'I am nothing like Re.'

'You're taking someone's life from them without their permission,' Joey folded his arms, 'unfortunately that means you're exactly like Re.'

'No, you're wrong,' Tristan shook his head, 'I'm doing this for his own good.'

'Forgive me if I don't believe you, but you did just say it was his life or yours and you were choosing your own.'

'Yeah, but shouldn't the fact Duke's little shock therapy didn't work prove something?' Tristan folded his arms. 'I mean it worked on Seto, didn't it? So maybe it didn't work on me because Tristan didn't want it to work.'

'I don't believe that,' Duke shook his head.

'Nor do I,' Catilin's face filled with an odd smile as she tilted her head to one side. 'Your will to exist is simply greater because you've had less opportunity. You're overpowering Tristan right now because you want it more than he does, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want it.'

'She's right,' Yugi and Mai spoke almost simultaneously.

'Can you sense something sister?' Joey flicked his gaze in Yugi's direction.

'I can sense two distinct sets of emotions within him,' Yugi nodded, 'Tristan wants his life back.'

'You don't know that,' Tristan shook his head.

'I do. I'm certain.' Yugi held his gaze for a moment. 'Why are you being so stubborn about this? The Win we all know wouldn't behave this way.'

'There are a number of reasons he could be acting this way,' Catilin shuffled her feet from side to side for a moment, 'I think I get why the Fables kept showing me what it was showing me. It wanted me to see Cappayanna's thoughts about this, because there are two good reasons Body is acting this way.'

'And those are?' Joey cocked an eyebrow at her.

'The fact that Tristan would be this stubborn is one of them,' she pressed her lips together. 'Don't forget our hosts fill in more of our personalities than your hosts fill in yours.'

'Well that makes sense,' he lowered his head slightly, 'and the other reason?'

'That some of the darkness has crept into him.'

'And that's where we come back into it, right?' The hybrid grinned. 'This is how we're going to redeem ourselves, because we're going to be the ones to fix this no matter which version is the truth.'

'Right,' Catilin nodded, 'that's if you'll allow us too,' she flicked her gaze towards Joey.

'Considering the circumstances I'll definitely give you a shot,' Joey studied her for a moment, 'you are a Win part after all, so I have no choice but to trust your judgment on this. But you only have _one_ shot, if you fail...'

'We won't fail,' Catilin cut her off, 'because my dear ancestor gave me everything I need.'

* * *

Téa wasn't sure how she felt about the current situation. For a start the first thing Catilin's group had done was separate SK back out from the hybrid, restoring Jay and Octan to their former position as joint beings. Okay so maybe it was Jay and Octan who needed to redeem themselves and not SK, but something about the way they'd so casually shed him left a bad taste in Téa's mouth.

From there the groups had failed to do themselves any favours by cutting themselves off into this tight little huddle for talking. Catilin, Ahna, Jay and the guy referred to as Covo all huddled together talking like it was perfectly okay for them to be doing so. Okay, so maybe Téa hadn't been there when three of the four of them had been evil last time and maybe she was close enough to Catilin to, rightly or wrongly, think she was somehow manipulated by the other two and was less to blame somehow. But the thought of her being around them made Téa's whole body twitch. In her head Catilin was just an innocent little girl susceptible to evil manipulators and as far as she could tell Jay and Ahna were the worst offenders.

'You don't trust them, do you?' Mai placed a hand on Téa's shoulder making her jump.

'The last time the three of them worked together they were evil, right?' Téa turned her gaze towards her. 'You were there for that, right? So you know exactly how bad it was.'

'And because I was there I know they weren't exactly themselves at the time. I've never blamed Catilin for what happened.'

'I don't see how anyone _could_ blame Catilin, I mean she's just so...'

'She may be child-like, but she has a lot more intelligence than people give her credit for. The way she's acting now should prove that.'

'The way she's acting now is just her acting under the influence of her _Win-self_ or whatever it is you guys are thinking of it as. Just like you acting the way you are right now is being influenced by this Win guy.'

'What makes you so sure of that?' Mai half smirked at her. 'Maybe there are other parts of my personality you've just not had the chance to see before now.'

'You're right, I'm sorry, it's just... well this whole situation is just so...'

'Tell me about it,' Mokuba moved across to where they were standing before sitting himself down pretty much at Mai's feet.

'You're worried about your brother,' Mai frowned down at him for a moment.

'He's being really quiet and unresponsive right now. I tried to talk to him, but it was like he didn't want to know. I've never seen him like this before.'

'It's the chaos,' Mai's eyes turned upwards for a moment. 'Until things have settled everything is just going to feel...'

'Mm... I know,' he lowered his gaze. 'Just like I know the chaos is tied to him now.'

'Him?' Téa shook her head. 'Do you mean Tristan?'

'Yes and no.'

'The child is waiting to see how things will play out,' Mai gave a strange half laugh. 'The chaos will settle when the child feels it should settle and the child is waiting for Tristan to make that decision.'

'But why, I don't understand. If the kid can just settle this chaos you're all harping on about, why is it waiting? Couldn't it just do it now and get it over with? Wouldn't that make things easier?'

'The chaos is holding back a change in the order of things,' Mokuba shook his head. 'If it disappears now whilst Body refuses to relinquish control of Tristan then we'll never get Tristan back.'

'Wait, is that true of everyone right now?' Téa felt herself panic for a moment. 'If the higher parts of everyone is in control when the chaos settles...'

'We're not holding back our hosts,' Mai shook her head, 'so when the time comes we will recede willingly. That ultimately is what makes us different from him right now.'

'And why I'm so worried about Seto,' Mokuba bit his lower lip. 'What if the receding chaos doesn't remove his turmoil?'

'It is a concern, but unfortunately not one we can predict right now. Things will settle for him however they need to settle and you're going to have to be supportive of that.'

'I know,' he nodded, 'and I want to be, but...'

'What?'

'Something feels wrong and I'm not really sure I can explain it.' Mokuba's face filled with a strange expression. 'I don't think I'm bound to the Pure. I don't feel any loyalty towards her. If anything I'm not sure I trust her at all. Maybe it's just the events of today doing the talking and, yeah, I know I shouldn't really count them since the storm has made all of us a little crazy, but... I don't know; my lack of loyalty to her troubles me.'

'Tristan told me we were all bound to different Mistresses,' Mai tilted her head to one side, 'so maybe the Pure just isn't your Mistress.'

'But she is my brother,' Mokuba shook his head, 'logic dictates my loyalty should be to her.'

'I don't think logic comes into this Mokuba, you're bound to whichever Mistress you're bound to, I wouldn't worry about it.'

'With the chaos magnifying everything right now, that's easier said than done,' Mokuba shook his head. 'All we can really do is wait for them to do whatever it is they need to,' he nodded towards Catilin's group, 'and hope that, whatever it is, it really is enough.'


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

'I'm starting to think I like you better when you're not channelling higher powers,' Jay blinked at her for a moment.

'You're not seriously threatened by me like this, are you?' Catilin blinked at him for a moment.

'Not exactly, but your suggestion is pretty... out there, how do you know it will work?'

'Because the Ashmars created the Fabled Truths for a reason, right,' Ahna focused her gaze on Catilin, 'to make sure one part of Win would have access to all the knowledge they needed.'

'Right,' Catilin grinned back at her, 'but you're still the expert on these weapons, so do you think my plan has legs?'

'I wouldn't say I was an expert on them,' she tilted her head to one side for a moment, 'I mean I've not had the same advantage my ancestors had of having the information passed down to me directly from my elder, but... The second I touched them I could sense what they were capable of. I definitely think your plan could work.'

'Could but not definitely will, right?' Jay frowned at her.

'We're basically trying to do the same thing Win did to us, only without removing him from Tristan's body,' Ahna pulled a face, 'there's no real precedence for this.'

'There doesn't need to be,' Covo's eyes shone with a strange kind of confidence, 'if I've learnt anything today, it's that anything really is possible. I think we should try it.'

'I second that,' Ahna shot Covo a warm smile.

'And I third it,' Catilin giggled.

'It was your plan,' Jay rolled his eyes, 'you don't have to agree to it; your agreement has already been assumed.'

'Well just in case it's not,' she poked her tongue out at him.

'Remind me why I was threatened by your Win qualities,' Jay rolled his eyes.

'You tell me,' she folded her arms, suddenly serious again, 'you're the only one who's yet to agree to our plan.'

'I can't think of anything better,' he shrugged, 'so why the hell not.'

* * *

SK felt strange. No, strange wasn't quite the right word for it. From the moment he'd been separated back out from the hybrid he felt as though he'd left a piece of himself behind. Time and time again his gaze had moved towards Jay, wondering if the other guy felt the same way about it somehow. Something told him he didn't. After all Jay still had Octan so he didn't really know what it was like to be a singular being; he probably was completely unfazed by the whole situation.

Something uncomfortable shifted through SK's stomach; he knew that wasn't completely true. In his hybrid state he'd been able to sense Jay's thoughts and feelings like they were his own and same was true of Octan once he'd been joined into the mix. He understood both of them in a way he'd never been able to before and although things like their memories were starting to fade away from SK's mind, he still felt like he knew both of them better than he'd known anyone else in his life.

Just as he was thinking that Jay's group finally pulled out of their huddle and moved back towards the rest of them.

'So, are you ready then?' SK's tongue skated across his lips as he focused his gaze on Jay.

'We're as ready as we'll ever be,' Jay folded his arms, 'personally I think this plan is nuts, but I'm ready for it.'

'Is there anything you need?' Joey's white glazed eyes scanned the group.

'Just the weapons,' Catilin gave a confident little nod.

'You all know what's on the line here,' the multi-tonal tones in Joey's voice were gravely serious, 'if you manage to succeed you will be redeemed in our eyes. This does not mean things will return to the way they were before, your contact with each other will still be limited and monitored, but your powers will be restored in full. Understand?'

'Perfectly,' Ahna grinned.

'Let's do this,' Catilin clapped her hands together, 'you all know which weapons to grab, right?'

Covo, Ahna and Jay exchanged looks before nodding.

'Great, then what are we waiting for?'

Tristan's glazed white eyes narrowed in on the four of them as they approached. It was pretty clear he didn't think much about this situation, but then again why would he? SK felt an almost inexplicable shiver run up and down his spine as Tristan's eyes flicked in his direction for a moment. No, not his direction, but close... SK's eyes followed the line of sight; Kaiba.

'Whatever you're planning, it won't work,' Tristan's gaze flicked back towards the group. 'And when it does fail, what will you do then? You'll have lost your one and only shot at proving yourself worthy of redemption.'

'Then we better make sure it counts,' Jay's face filled with a smug look as he grabbed the Sword and the Dagger, before taking up a position to the left of Tristan.

'I don't care what you think, my child belongs with me and this will prove it,' Ahna's eyes glinted as she grabbed the Staff and the Whip before placing herself opposite Jay.

'Here's to redemption,' Catilin giggled as she grabbed the Bow and the Blade.

She then took up a position in front of Tristan as Covo grabbed the remaining two items and took up a position behind their target. SK found himself almost holding his breath, which was weird since he didn't have the slightest clue what was about to happen. He just got this sense that, whatever it was, it was going to be big.

It didn't take long to start either, with one simple nod between Catilin and Covo, he closed his eyes and the Lance and Shield he was holding started to glow. Another nod resulted in Jay closing his eyes and the Dagger in his right hand to start glowing. Three beams of light shot out of the weapons and connected with Tristan. Several painfully long moments passed before the next silent command was given. Now it was Ahna's turn to close her eyes, as she did the Whip began to glow, but the light from the Lance died away; a new beam of light then shot out from the Whip towards Tristan.

'How did it come to this?' Kaiba's voice was so quiet, SK almost wasn't sure he'd spoken. 'How did we let things get so confused when we promised... when I promised...?'

'Seto are you okay?' SK glanced towards him.

'Huh?' Kaiba blinked at him for a moment. 'I'm fine,' he folded his arms, 'I'm just trying to figure out if what they're doing will work or not.'

'Do you understand what it is they are doing then?'

'A little,' he shrugged, 'but to understand it fully I would have to talk to the Pure and right now she's not exactly my favourite being in the multiverse. She gave me her word she wouldn't do something like this.'

'From what I can gather nobodies been acting exactly like themselves since the storm began,' SK licked his lips again as he continued to watch the light show play out in front of him.

'If you're trying to justify her behaviour somehow then forget it,' Kaiba tensed up. 'It doesn't matter what the circumstances were, she promised me she wouldn't do something like this.'

'Hmm...' SK knew his cousin had a point, but something in him felt agreeing would betray the Mistress somehow.

It was stupid, but being the Mistresses Helper made it hard for SK not to feel strangely loyal to all the Mistresses even when they were technically on opposing sides. Not that he was going to tell Kaiba that, not in the mood he was currently in. Although SK had to admit he was more than a little relieved his cousin was acting more like himself again.

A sudden change in the activity in front of them caught SK's attention. The light between the Sword and Tristan, which had previously been white like the others, was now electric yellow. Seconds later the light from the Bow turned fire red, followed by the Lance's turning pink, the Whip's going sea green, the Shield's turning dark green, the Blade's turning a sky blue, the Staff's becoming s weird glowing black and finally the Knife's turning purple.

Slowly the coloured light rippled out from each weapon, the edges slowly bleeding into each other creating hybrid colours. These hybrid colours then seemed to spill into each other, massing into one bizarrely Technicolor column, which rose up blocking out all view of Tristan. Everything around them fell into an almost deafening silence, which was why SK was so certain he heard one single, tiny, breathy little whisper coming from his cousin.

'Please... please... please be alright...'

* * *

Duke couldn't help but smile down at the child in his arms. The changing colours in the lights which had initial caused a deep silence to fall around the room had now started the little one chirping. A happy feeling filled Duke, almost as if the sound were filled with contagious emotions or something.

'Things are going well then, huh?' Duke's words were breathy and quiet and for the baby's ears only. 'So we'll have our good old Tristan back in no time, right?'

The baby made a chirping sound and something in Duke told him he'd not used the right words.

'Okay, so maybe not the _old_ Tristan, but it will be Tristan.'

The baby chirped again as if to say that was the correct answer.

'You know, you're a lot easier to have a conversation with than some adults I know,' Duke smirked, 'and probably smarter than they are too.'

This time the baby made no response, instead it settled further into the blanket it had made out of Duke's coat and closed its eyes.

'It's a pity you'll be too little to remember any of this,' Duke gently stroked the baby's head, 'because I'm pretty sure the rest of us will never forget.'


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

Téa wasn't quite sure what was going on, but even she had to admit the colour show in front of them was pretty impressive. More than just impressive, it was spectacular to watch. Beautiful even. She knew Tristan was in there somewhere and all this... whatever it was... was having some kind of an effect on him. But if she just allowed herself to forget about that, the movement of the lights and colours almost lulled her into a kind of trance.

'It'll be over soon,' Joey took up a position beside her, his voice still multi-tonal and his eyes still glazed over.

'How can you tell?'

'It's in the air,' Yugi appear to the other side of her, his eyes also still glazed white.

'Does that mean it's worked then?' Téa flicked her gaze between the two of them.

'We can't know for sure until it's over,' Joey shook his head.

'But we are hopeful,' Yugi placed a hand on Téa's shoulder.

For half a second Téa felt grateful that the two Mistresses currently in control of her friends had remembered she existed. Their words were a strange kind of comfort to her and made the whole mess of a situation they were in suddenly feel a lot less messy. Just as she was thinking that the multicoloured light began to blur back to white, before receding back into the eight Elemental Weapons. For a long held heartbeat everyone's eyes were on Tristan. He was knelt down staring at his hands as though they were foreign objects and there was something about the look on his face which made Téa's heart lurch more than a little.

What if the spell the others had done had worked a little too well and sent him back to a time when he was still suicidal? It wasn't that much of a stretch was it? He had only recently been discharged from a mental hospital after all.

'Tristan?' Duke was the first to break the silence.

'What...' Tristan's voice trembled slightly as his gaze lifted first towards Duke and then flicked round the rest of the room.

For the longest time his gaze seemed to rest with Kaiba and Téa felt something uncomfortable move through her stomach. Consciously or not Tristan had reached out to Kaiba when he was depressed, was he reaching out to him now because those feelings had returned?

'What happened?' Tristan's gaze returned to his own hands. 'Where am I?'

'What is the last thing you remember?' Joey took a few cautious steps towards him.

'I... uh... I...'

'It's okay,' Kaiba's voice was edged with his usual cool attitude, 'they know.'

'How...?' Tristan stared at him.

'Win and the Pure took control of us, somewhere in that mess it came out,' Kaiba shrugged. 'I don't remember any of it either, but I know they know.'

'Uh...' Tristan's gaze returned to his own hands once more, 'the last thing I remember was leaving the hospital to come back to Domino. After that everything's a bit of a blur.'

'Well this makes things complicated,' Joey rolled his glazed eyes.

'What do you mean?' Tristan shook his head. 'What happened? What did we do?'

'You caused a lot of trouble trying to conceal the birth of my child in order to use its existence for your own gain.'

'Uh... you mean we went through with their plan?' Tristan's gaze met with Joey's.

'So you at least remember plotting to do this then?'

'Yes, we do,' Kaiba folded his arms, 'but you already knew we would because you saw us talking about it before the Pure and Win had any real influence over us.'

'So we can punish you for plotting, but not for carrying it out?' Joey cocked an eyebrow. 'Is that what you're trying to tell me?'

'No, I'm trying to tell you, you should punish them,' Kaiba half turned away from him. 'They took over _our_ bodies without permission. _They_ need to be punished.'

'Agreed,' Tristan nodded. 'We might have wanted the same thing as them, but they abused out trust,' he gripped the material above his heart. 'You should create a distance between them and us.'

'A distance?' Joey frowned.

'We shouldn't be able to access their powers,' Kaiba turned his head back towards Joey. 'Using their powers gives them influence over us. That's how they managed to gain so much control without us even noticing.'

'But the Pure and Win would have to agree to the punishment, since we're talking about their powers here.'

'No, they wouldn't,' Kaiba shook his head. 'We're not asking you to block their powers from them; we're asking you to block them from us.'

'We can't let things get confused again,' Tristan pulled himself to his feet. 'Please, just make it so their powers can't be used in our bodies it'll give them no incentive to take control then, because even if they try there'll be very little they can do.'

'At the very least it'll give us a fighting chance against them,' Kaiba's voice was almost too level.

'Okay, I guess it's a fitting punishment,' Joey nodded.

For half a second Téa was certain he saw an almost smug look pass between Kaiba and Tristan, but within a single blink of an eye it was gone. She found herself glancing round at the others but as none of them appeared to have noticed it she figured she was probably just seeing things.

'So are we almost done here then?' Ahna's voice broke the momentary silence. 'Only I'd really like to return home now and hold my little one.'

* * *

It was dark by the time they returned to the Southern Palace. All of them had then gathered in the warm, but spacious kitchen, with most of the group hovering around Duke and the baby. For some reason he still hadn't given the child up yet and Ahna was starting to feel a little threatened by him. Not that she was going to let on of course; she'd only just managed to redeem herself, she didn't want to risk messing that up.

'I can't believe I'm a Dad,' Joey's chocolate brown eyes were fixed on the baby. 'I mean, I know I don't remember a whole lot about our relationship Ahna, but...'

'I'm sorry,' Ahna lowered her gaze, 'I feel terrible for creating this whole mess.'

'Are you saying our child is a mess?'

'No... no I mean, I shouldn't have manipulated you in the way I did and I should never have allowed myself to be tricked into leaving the safety of the Temple of Mov. If I'd just stayed there none of you would ever have known about this.'

'Well that's not true for a start,' Tristan rolled his eyes, 'unless me and Seto don't count as people now.'

'You're still calling him Seto?' Joey cocked an eyebrow at him for a moment, before turning his attention back towards Ahna. 'Don't think I'm happy about you keeping this from me. This child is heir to the Lutoni house, not the Crovell; you had no right to take its heritage away from it like that.'

'I know...' Ahna gave a heavy sigh, 'I feel bad enough about it as it is...'

'You shouldn't feel bad about anything,' a strange smile pulled across Duke's face, 'this little guy is a gift from the gods, pretty much literally. He was never meant to be kept a secret from anyone.'

'Kept a secret,' Joey gave a weird little gasp.

'So you've finally figured it out, have you,' Mai rested against Joey's shoulder.

'The child is Kayma.'

'Not exactly,' Ahna laughed, 'I mean, the story's a little different for a start and for a second he's a boy.'

'No, the story's the same; it's the details which are different.' Joey shook his head. 'He is still technically a kayma child. His existence was still kept secret from his father until the day of his birth. The story up to this point has been pretty much the same with details changed. The story _from_ this point needs to be different.'

'No lies,' Mai's voice was calm and gentle.

'No lies,' Ahna nodded, 'but a hold of my own child some time before he becomes a toddler would be nice.'

'Uh...' Duke blinked at her for a moment, 'sorry, I guess I got so used to being the one holding him I forgot anyone else needed too.' He moved towards Ahna and, for a moment, appeared almost reluctant to pass him over. 'He's a wonderful little thing, you're so lucky,' he gently placed her son into her arms.

'Believe me I know,' Ahna smiled down at her baby, allowing all the motherly feelings she'd had to suppress up till this moment wash over her.

'So what are you going to call him,' Téa half hung over Ahna's shoulder as she stared down at the baby.

'Well I was going to call him Gan Crovell, as a reminder of what I'd done,' Ahna pressed her lips together. 'But I guess that's completely out of the window now, isn't it? Because I don't think Veronie would appreciate Gan Lutoni much.'

'You're right, I wouldn't,' Joey tilted his head to one side, 'but Crovell Lutoni...'

'Huh?' Ahna's gaze met with his.

'I know it's unusual and pretty much unheard of amongst Silkoneons, but it's not like the two of us together are going to have any more children and... Well he's an unusual child in every sense of the word; I think... No, I know, there's no other name which would suit him better.'

'Crovell Lutoni,' Ahna stared down at her beautiful baby boy, 'is that your name little one?'

He appeared to stir and gurgle slightly.

'I'll take that as a yes,' a huge smile filled her face, 'well my darling little Crovell Lutoni, I am very pleased and very proud to meet you.'


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

The second Covo entered the Temple of Mov he was filled with a deep sense of guilt. It was late and no one had told _her_ she wasn't under suspicion anymore. With his heart squirming in his chest he gently knocked on the door to her room and waited for a reply.

'I'm still in here, if that's what you're checking,' her voice hissed through the door. 'I know it's late and I'm under house arrest and everything, but I'm really, really hungry. Could you please get me something to eat?'

'Has nobody fed you since you've been in there?' Covo frowned.

'Macar,' she squeaked, 'please tell me you're here to say I've been proven innocent.'

Covo didn't bother replying to her question. Instead he used the key in his possession to unlock the door. The second it swung open she had her arms around his neck.

'Must you always be _so _excitable?' He rolled his eyes and pushed her back off.

'Don't tell me you're embarrassed,' she poked her tongue out at him, 'it's not as though there's anyone else around. So, if they know it's not me then who did do it?'

'It's a little bit complicated,' Covo rubbed the back of his neck and averted his gaze, 'and Veronie asked me not to say anything to you.'

'Don't you dare feed me that line Macar Covo,' she narrowed her gaze on him. 'We don't keep secrets, remember?'

'Korin please... it's not like it's my secret to tell and... you know how much I hate it when people ask me to keep things from you as it is.'

'Yes I do know, just like I know exactly how much I'm going to pester you every hour we're both awake until you spill.'

'That's going to be easier said than done this time round Korin,' he half turned away from her. 'I... I'm moving to the...' he gave a nervous cough, 'to the Southern Palace tomorrow.'

'You're what?' Korin gave a strange half laugh, as she clearly tried to figure out how serious he was being.

'I... I'm moving to the Southern Palace tomorrow,' he sucked an awkward breath in and pressed his lips together. 'Veronie's asked me to become one of his Guards of the House.'

'But you're not a wolf,' she shook her head, 'you're a stag. Stags aren't allowed to be Guards of the Lutoni House.'

'No... they're allowed to be Korin, it's just that... traditionally the Lutonis have always picked wolves. But since Veronie's never officially established his household he... well he offered me the place.'

'And why the hell would he do that?' Korin stared at him.

'Well, there are two reasons,' Covo squirmed, 'the first is that I earned it. I mean, you wouldn't believe what I had to go through in order to earn it, but trust me when I say it was well earned.'

'And the second reason?'

'Crovell...'

'I might have known that little kitten had something to do with this. Did she get offered a place in the Lutoni household too?'

'Um... I guess it'll all depend on how you look at it,' he found himself unable to meet Korin's gaze. 'Crovell... well you see... um... she... that is to say... her... I mean... Crovell is Ahna.'

'Ahna...?' Korin's face crinkled with thought for a moment. 'Ahna,' her eyes went wide, 'as in Veronie's ex-mate? The one everyone was buzzing about when Mai first showed up?'

'Uh-huh,' Covo nodded.

'So that means...?'

'Uh-huh.'

'So is she and Veronie...?'

'No,' Covo shook his head. 'No, they don't love each other; I don't think they ever did. He's still with Mai and... Well I think I have a shot with her.'

'I always knew you were going to fall in love foolishly,' Korin rolled her eyes, 'you were always such a sucker for a pity party.'

'Korin...'

'I'm just kidding and... well maybe I'm a little bit worried, but I'm allowed to be, aren't I? Some girl I barely know is about to take you away from me.'

'You make it sound like I'm never going to see you again. I'll visit as much as possible, I promise.'

'You'd better,' her lips pulled into a sly pout, 'or better yet get me a place in that household.'

'But...' Covo stared at her.

'We've never been separated before, ever,' Korin's eyes took on a weird look of sadness, 'I don't like the thought of it now and I can't believe you do.'

'I guess... I guess I'd not really thought about it like that. I'm sorry, you're right, I'll do my best to slip you into the household somehow, but I can't make any promises Korin.'

'I know,' she hugged him again, 'I'm going to miss you _so_ much.'

'I know,' he returned her hug as a part of him began regretting his decision, 'believe me I know.'

* * *

The world outside of his office looked grey and washed out, as though all the rain from the last few days had stripped everything of its colour. There was something about the way it looked which filled Kaiba with mixed feelings; things were different now, but at the same time...

'I bet you're trying to figure out exactly how much of it was acting, right?' Tristan's voice made him jump.

Kaiba turned to face him, instantly noticing the bag on his back. For a few long moments their eyes locked creating a heavy and awkward silence.

'If you're even thinking about running away again...'

'I'm not,' Tristan cut him off, 'but since I wasn't sure which plan we were following anymore, I figured it was time I went back home to see my parents.'

'I'm just glad Win wasn't being serious.'

'You know he didn't appreciate you checking like that, you could have brought a whole lot of unnecessary suspicion our way.' Tristan lowered his head slightly. 'The four of us had discussed this possibility enough time, especially after what the kid told us.'

'Sooner sacrifice than separate,' Kaiba muttered the words like some school mantra which had been drilled into him.

'Does that mean...?'

'We both know there was some truth to what Duke was saying,' Kaiba cut him off, his heart lurching at the thought of the rest of the sentence, 'the two of them did use the storm to their advantage, manipulating our feelings and gaining control over us they wouldn't otherwise have. It's why things got so confusing for both of us, right?'

'Right,' Tristan's voice was mute.

There was another long and awkward pause.

'I guess I should be going,' Tristan turned towards the door, 'it's late as it is and my parents will probably want to do a _lot_ of talking before I get any sleep.'

'Of course.'

'The next phase of the plan always involved a lot of waiting no matter how this stage went, so... I guess it's probably best if we keep our distance for now,' Tristan's tone was hard to interpret.

'Is that your way of telling me I've done my job and you want to go back to hanging out with those losers now?' No matter how hard he tried Kaiba couldn't keep the note of hurt out of his voice.

'Don't tell me you're going to miss our long chats,' Tristan glanced back towards him, 'I thought you didn't have time for friends.'

'I have time for you,' the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. 'I mean...' he shifted his gaze away, 'maybe this next phase is just waiting, but that doesn't mean other things won't come up. We... we should be prepared for anything, especially now we're powerless. _We_ can't sense what's going on anymore.'

'But they can and they will warn us long before it becomes an issue,' he could feel Tristan's eyes studying him, 'so we can just deal with things as and when they arise. We don't _need_ to be in constant contact for that.'

'I know, but...' Kaiba's hands clenched into such tight fists he could feel his fingernails digging into his palms. 'Look, if this is your way of telling me you'd rather hang out with those losers, then fine, I just thought... I mean... It's not like I care, but...'

'Of course I want to hang out with you.'

Kaiba's gaze had been so focused on a spot on the ground he hadn't even noticed Tristan cross the room towards him. Now he was stood right in front of him with his hands on Kaiba's shoulders and an odd look plastered across his face. After a moment Tristan gave a strange half laugh and pulled himself away.

'I mean, if you don't mind I'd like to swing by and see you from time to time,' Tristan shrugged. 'I might have wanted to kill you a lot, but our long chats really helped pull me out of the dark pit I was in,' he shifted his gaze away. 'Look, I know the whole idea of having _friends_ makes you uncomfortable, so I'm not about to go around labelling our... association, but... I'd like to be able to hang out with you sometimes and not because we're planning something or preparing for something and not because you're checking up on me, but just to hang out. If that's okay.'

'Whatever,' Kaiba's lips twitched into a smile, but he quickly suppressed it, 'don't you have somewhere to be right now?'

'Yeah, I guess I do. See you later Seto.'

'See you soon Tristan.'

End.


End file.
